Dream, explore, endure, finish.

Lake Mountain 50K

2012-01-18T13:14:00.000-08:00

With Craig Lloyd, Matt Van Horn and Josh Greenwell. January 10th 2012:

Matt wanted to get in a long run to prep for his 100 mile race in March, so we got some of the fellas together and decided that the Lake Mt. 50K course would be the perfect option. We started out a little after 7:00 am and it was downright COLD. The car said 15 degrees and while everyone got their things together I tried stretching and dancing a bit to keep warm and it took a mile or two to start feeling good. Almost right out of the gate we started to climb up to Soldier Pass and we kept up a pretty decent running pace all the way up. The views from the pass were stunning and we were the only humans within several miles in all directions. After that we dropped down into the Cedar Valley where we could see the fog hovering eerily and waiting for us to enter. As usual we were laughing and joking and the miles were clicking by.

When we got lower into the valley it became quite apparent that the temps had dropped significantly and we all felt it. We were dressed appropriately, but we all had to make a concerted effort to keep the water moving in our hydration tubes or they would freeze within minutes. Jun actually had to mess with his for several minutes after it froze up. At about mile 6 I took off a glove to take a gel and my hand was so frozen that it became totally numb and I couldn't even open a zip lock bag. The gels also were almost solid and became a little more difficult to swallow, but as long as we kept moving we were all fine. There was a fine layer of frost covering all of the bushes and brush and we all started to accumulate it on our facial hair as well, but we were having a great time.

The dirt road we were on eventually takes you into the edge of Eagle Mountain and after a short stint on some pavement we were back on the trail that would take us around the north end of the mountain. We stopped here to take a break and at that point the trail seemed to be numerous rolling hills the rest of the way. At about mile 17 I noticed that my hamstrings were a little tight and I would try and stretch them out whenever we stopped. At mile 19 we had a cache of food and drinks and we took about a 15 minute break to eat and replenish our energy. I was feeling really good except for my hammies. They were still tight.

The next 6 miles were pretty tough for me. I usually really enjoy hills, especially on a long run like that, but they were really hurting me and the farther I went the tighter my hamstrings got. It wasn't terrible, but it definitely slowed me some. It was one hill after another as we made our way south on the east side of the mountain. Eventually we topped out on Enoch pass with about 6 miles to go. I had been behind Matt on the way to the pass and he was running really strong up every hill and I was impressed with his toughness.

Running downhill was such a relief for me and my legs felt instantly better. I did have some fatigue, but my hamstrings were no longer hurting and it was nice to be able to run under a 9:00 pace, however I still wasn't keeping up with the other guys and Matt and Jun took off at a blistering pace which was very impressive considering we were over 26 miles in. I settled into a 9:00 pace for the next 3 miles and I was pretty content with that. Eventually I caught up to Josh who had stopped to take a break and we ran in the last couple of miles together. His ankle was hurting and my legs were quite fatigued, so we went pretty slow. Those were some tough miles, but it felt really good to finish. Check out Craig's blog for some really good pictures

City Creek Canyon runs

2012-01-18T13:07:00.000-08:00

From Dec 26th-Jan 4th I did 3 runs in City Creek Canyon. First Matt V. and I ran to the Avenues Twin Peaks on the 26th on a cold morning. There wasn't much snow on the trail and other than it being cold the conditions were fantastic out there. A few days later we decided to check out the other side of the canyon, so we ran to the top of the ridge above Ensign Peak and hit all of the small summits with towers. It was so much fun and I really enjoyed the trail, so I talked Jun into heading back up there a few days later to try and climb Dude Peak on Jan 4th. It was an absolutely perfect day with sunshine and warm temps above the inversion. We were both running in shorts and sleeveless shirts and really had a fun run. we didn't quite make it to the summit (we'll be back) because of time constraints, but we had a blast anyway. I really love this canyon. There are some fantastic trails with good elevation gain and awesome views all with easy access.

December training

2012-01-18T12:57:00.000-08:00

I had a very good month of running in December. We have been experiencing very warm temps this winter and without much snow in the mountains it has been great for getting out into the mountains to run. One of my favorite runs in December was a Friday night/Sat morning run with Matt Van Horn. We decided on a whim to run View Benchmark peak and Lake mountain back to back in the middle of the night. This would be summit #76 and 77 for the year and we had an excellent time laughing and joking the whole way while most of the world slept. Here is a short report:

View Benchmark/Lake Mountain run. 12/17/11

I was frustrated that I couldn't make it out on the trails the last few days and with a very busy Saturday coming up I decided to do a late night mountain run and I was happy Matt wanted to come along. I suggested View Benchmark via Ann's trail and Lake Mountain as possibilities. Matt said why not do both. I like the way he thinks.

We met at Ann's at 11:00 and we were running up the snowy trail a few minutes later. It was bitter cold and it took about 5 minutes to start to warm up. After that I felt fine, but whenever we stopped it would chill me within about a minute and I had steam flying off of my head. We were having a blast though. It took us longer than I had hoped because of the snow, but we made it up to the summit in about an hour (That included breaks for Matt to move some product). On top we checked out the views, but after a few minutes we were VERY cold, luckily there wasn't much wind.

The run down was a lot of fun. We laughed pretty much the whole way down and had a decent running pace most of the way. Back at the cars we decided to add in Lake Mountain as well, so we drove to Lehi and after taking a break to eat, warm up and change some clothes we parked and were on the trail just before 2:00 am. It was COLD!

We had both changed into our Altra Lone Peaks and after running the first 1.5 miles we could feel the extra strain on the calves and tendons. After the first mile we were in snow the rest of the way. After two miles we settled into a nice fast hiking pace for the rest of the way, but we would still run the slopes that aren't quite as steep.

About a mile from the top the nice 4X4 track we had been following ended and we had to break the trail the rest of the way which did slow us some. There was a slight wind after the saddle and the snow was very light powder and you could see bright crystals sparkling in the headlamps. It was pretty cool. We reached the summit a little before 3:30 am. It was cold, so we didn't stay long. We tried to snap a few pics, but they didn't turn out so we headed down.

The run down as incredible. We picked up the pace with each mile and the Lone Peaks provided plenty of traction on the steep snowy grade. We were singing to various songs that were blaring on my ipod, laughing and just having a fun time. The last two miles were in the 7's and felt really good. We both had an excellent time and I made it to bed just before 5:00 am and it was definitely more fun than sleeping.

We had just under 5K elevation gain for the night and we were able to run all but about 2.5 miles of the 16.2.

"Big to Small" 3 peaks in a day.

2011-12-14T09:57:00.000-08:00

"Big to small" (Mt. Olympus, Grandeur Peak, Mt. Wire) with Matt Van Horn

About a year ago Matt and I talked about doing this climb/hike/run which would give us 3 summits and about 10,500 feet of elevation gain. We thought it was a really cool idea, but it took us a year to get to it. We decided to do Oly first because it is the most difficult and we could get it done while we were still fresh. That was a great idea.

We parked our car about .5 from the trailhead in a neighborhood and we did that at every peak. After our trailhead break-in last week we were both a bit paranoid about leaving the vehicles at the trailheads. I think we ended up starting around 6:30. It was very cold, but we knew that once we got moving it wouldn't be bad, but I was worried that it was going to be bitter on the summit. Once we reached the trailhead we both felt great and within the first mile we stopped so Matt could shed some clothes. We hiked most of the way up because Oly is steep, but we did run where we could. There was snow/ice on the trail for the last 2500 feet, so I put my micro-spikes on and they seemed to help a lot.

From the saddle you have a nice rock scramble through a steep chute that leads you up to the summit block and we were expecting a lot of snow and ice, but surprisingly there wasn't much and it was nice because we moved up it quickly. There was some snow/ice to deal with just below the summit which required us to take it a little slower, but we did manage to reach the summit in under 2:00 which surprised both of us because we didn't feel like we were pushing it at all. Matt beat me up by about 4 minutes. After a few minutes on top we both put in our headphones so we could blast down and when we entered the chute I was surprised to see a huge sheep dog running fast on the rocks. After another look I realized it was a large mountain goat and there were 5-6 others within 20 yards. Awesome! We stopped to watch them and it was pretty amazing to see them maneuver around on the rocks with precision so quickly. I lingered for about 5 minutes and then we took a few photos and then cruised down.
The descent was tricky. There is a lot of snow and ice on some steep technical trail and you have to take it slow. I slipped several times, but luckily didn't fall. With about a mile to go Matt pushed ahead and I stopped to take a gel and remove my spikes. The run down was fun and I was feeling great. Matt beat me back and met me on the road so that we could go get #2.

After a break to get some food we parked in the neighborhood next to the Grandeur trailhead and I changed some clothes and put on some different shoes. It was nice getting warm in the car and I really didn't want to get out, but we finally got moving up the trail to get our second peak of the day. The climb up Grandeur was slow. We both felt good, but we both lacked a little steam and it showed in our ascent time of 1:30. There was some annoying snow below the summit that we had to navigate, but for the most part the trail was in pretty good shape. On top I took a gel and we took in the views for a few minutes and then I convinced Matt to run the switchbacks instead of bombing it straight down on the east side. We had decided to do the longer loop into Church Fork which would add about 7 extra miles, but we wanted the miles and to make it more challenging.

The run down to Church Fork was much more difficult than I had anticipated. I left my spikes in the car and that was a mistake. It was very icy and snow covered almost all the way to the Pipeline trail. I slipped a few times and even went down twice, nothing serious, but enough to make me go much slower than I would have liked. On the plus side it was absolutely beautiful and I was thankful to be there enjoying the trails. Matt was waiting for me at the Pipeline where we picked up a decent running pace considering our legs were now pretty tired. The sun was out and it was actually quite warm and we could see the dirty dark cloud hovering in the valley below and it was nice being above it. At Rattlesnale Gulch we went down and again I was expecting more snow here, but it was pretty clear. Matt got ahead of me and on one switchback I turned the corner and was shocked to see him wearing only one glove. Haha! The Millcreek Flasher?? So funny.

We had a nice pace running out of the canyon and I was happy I could run a 7:30 pace 16 miles in with all of that vert on our legs and still feel great. The only negative was when we hit the inversion as we entered back into the valley. It was noticeably a lot colder and the air wasn't as fresh. We kept up a solid pace all the way to Foothill, but when we hit the hills my legs were definitely protesting. We slogged back to the cars and quickly made our way to Wire. We parked about .4 from the trailhead and both of us were feeling pretty tired, but excited to bag #3.
The slog up Wire was actually quite fun even though I felt kind of crappy. Matt was joking all the way up and we chatted and laughed. About half way up I really started feeling bonky and I realized I had not been keeping up with my energy or salt like I should have been so I downed a Gu and an S-Cap and after about 20 minutes I felt much better. One guy passed us going up and looked very pleased with himself. Little did he know that we were 20 miles in with about 8K+ of elevation on our legs. We were both ok watching him move up ahead. At the last saddle Matt moved ahead of me and actually started running near the top and he kept the run all the way across the ridge to the summit. Awesome! My legs were totally wrecked at that point and it was inspiring to see. I picked up my pace, but only slightly. I joined Matt at the summit where we celebrated a little and enjoyed the views of our third summit of the day.

The run down was tough. My legs and hips were sore and I was so ready to be done. I was slow, but ran just about the whole way down. Matt got ahead of me again and I finally joined him at the trailhead where we ran back to the cars together. We did it. Almost 23 miles and just under 11K vert for the day. 3 summits, a lot of laughs and an incredible time outdoors on the trails.
Now we will have to think about Matt's aspirations to bag Oly, Twins and Lone Peak in a day.

November 2011 training

2011-12-14T09:16:00.000-08:00

I really dialed down my miles in November for a few reasons. First, I hurt my back while lifting weights and it took me 2-3 weeks for that to calm down and I also wanted to rest my legs and get fully recovered from the big runs in September and October. I did continue to run and climb peaks weekly, but didn't do anything major all month. The run that I enjoyed the most was probably a run to the summit of Lake Mountain with Davy Crockett, Seth Wold, Dan Varga and Matt Van Horn. What a group! Some running legends and some very fast marathon runners.

Lake Mountain report. November 23, 2011:

We had a really fun morning on Lake Mountain. It was cold at the start (6:00 am) but we warmed up fast. We had a really good time just chatting away for the first mile and then Dan and Matt pushed the pace a bit and opened up a lead. After a while Dan ran back down to us and then stayed with us the rest of the way up.

The road is snow covered for the last two miles, but there was a nice track all the way to the saddle. From there we had to slog up a few inches up to the summit. matt tagged the summit first with the rest of us a few minutes behind. We got up there just in time to see one of the best sunrises of the year so far. Dan and Crockett went down via the ridge trail and Seth and I went to find Matt and we saw him climbing the peak to the west (the high point). Matt is a peak bagger at heart. I love it.

The run down was a lot of fun. I didn't want to go too fast because my hammies were a bit tight, so I took it easy until Seth and Matt caught up and then we all ran together. We caught Crockett and Dan just before the car and we all ran back together. It was the perfect way to start my morning.

Pony Express 50 pacing.

2011-12-14T09:03:00.000-08:00

October 21st, 2011:

Matt Van Horn and I have been climbing mountains together for almost 5 years. In 2009 we started trying to do a peak per week together before work and we both motivated each other and made it happen. In 2010 we kept this up and climbed multiple peaks together. I really ramped up my running and training and by the end of the year he started to join me on some of my runs as well. In 2011 we have run or climbed together 1-2 times per week and we did several long adventure runs as well. I was really excited when he decided to put in for his first 50 mile race and told him that I would be out there to help in any way that I could. We decided that I would help him crew for half of the race and then pace him the second half.

Pacing/crewing MatthewVH at the Pony Express 50. I had an incredible time pacing Matt on his first ultra marathon. I got to the start about 40 minutes early and had a fun time chatting with Matt, Matt Williams, Jim Kern, Scott and Kelli Stephensen, Josh Greenwell, Steve Heath, Seth Wold and others. I would be crewing for at least the first 15 miles with Matt's dad and then pacing for the last half of the race. Matt and Seth went out fast and when we drove by at the 2 mile point they already had a pretty good lead on everyone else. I was worried that he was going out too fast and after a brief talk from the car he seemed to be feeling good, but I was still a little concerned.

The next 20 miles were a lot of fun. I brought Matt's dad up to speed on what he would need and where everything was and how he would probably want it. We would meet Matt about every 4 miles and make sure he had everything that he needed. Not only was Matt running strong and smooth, but we got into a good routine so he didn't have to slow down much while we gave him hydration and fuel. I thought about jumping out to run at Simpson Springs, but Matt was still looking strong and I didn't want to break his rhythm and there would be plenty of miles left to help pace. Britta Hanel was starting to catch up and was probably only about 1/4 of a mile back when we approached Simpson, but Matt ran the hill strong and put a little more distance on her. We wouldn't see her again for almost 30 more miles. Things were going so well that I started to think that maybe I would just help crew, but I knew that the long straight stretch would be a grind, so I wanted to help take Matt's mind off of it because I thought he would probably start to get fatigued, so I decided to get out to run at mile 21.

After a few miles I could tell he was slowing a bit, but he still looked pretty good and was in second place without anyone even close to threatening at that point. He hit the marathon in 3:42 and was still feeling and looking strong. We passed Smooth and I chatted with her for a few minutes. She looked great and was all smiles. The approach to Dugway Pass starts to get steep and it was here that we noticed a guy in an orange shirt moving well about 1/4 of a mile back. We started to limit our time at our aid stops and we pushed it pretty hard up the hills. Both of us put on our ipods to see if that would help. We held him off for about 4-5 miles, but on the steepest section climbing to the pass he was only about 100 yards back. I ran ahead to the crew car to get Matt some water and a bagel so he wouldn't have to stop. We did make pretty good time on the climb, but the orange shirt guy kept coming. At the top of the pass Matt let out a primal scream and I told him we needed to bomb it down the other side. His dad was there with some Coke and after a quick drink we started running down. I tried to push the pace, but I could tell he was getting fatigued and for good reason, he was almost 40 miles in and had been pushing it pretty hard the whole time. I tried to tell Matt not to worry about the other runners. I could tell it was bothering him when he got passed, which is good, but at the same time I didn't want it to demoralize him. He was running an incredible race.

Orange shirt guy finally passed us about a half mile down on the other side of the pass. He was a really nice guy that eventually finished in 2nd place and he looked strong. We grinded out a few more miles and I was surprised to see Davy just ahead. I figured he was either having an off day or that he had to deal with some race issues. We finally passed him about mile 42 while he took a rest stop and within a half mile I could see Britta moving in on us again. She was looking strong and fresh and passed us running about an 8:00 min mile pace. We were both shocked at how good she looked. Matt's wife and kids showed up and I think it was a real boost for him. I think they came at the perfect time because I noticed an extra bounce in his step and his energy seemed to be picked up as well.

The last 5 miles were very hard. My legs/hips/IT bands had become very fatigued and my energy was also down. I realized that I had not been paying enough attention to my own energy, so I tried to cram in as much food and salt as I could, but I was losing my appetite. The usual jokes weren't as funny as they normally are and it was just plain tough. Matt continued to grind away and never complained about anything. The .75 out and back at the finish it the worst part of the whole race. About half way down I stopped to pee and Matt got out in front and there was no way I was going to catch him, so I didn't go all the way to the turnaround spot and I was ok with that. Running in the last half mile was actually fun. We were joking and laughing and the last .2 Matt picked it up a lot and ran hard and fast into the finish. I wouldn't have expected anything less. His time was 8:30 and he took 4th place, pretty incredible for his first ultra. His wife, kids and dad were there to greet him and it was amazing to see. I am just glad that I was able to experience a part of it with him. I'll never forget the experience.

October training

2011-12-14T08:57:00.000-08:00

October 2011 was not a normal training month for me. After running the St. George marathon on the first day of the month my legs were pretty wrecked because I had not yet fully recovered from Wasatch 100 and the marathon just killed them. I took it pretty easy the next few weeks and just did some easy maintenance runs. I did do a really fun run on the 15th with Craig, Matt W. and Matt V. to the summit of Grandeur and then down Church Fork to the Pipeline trail, out the canyon and then back to the trailhead. This has become one of my favorite training runs and I do it about once per month. Here is the report:

I met the guys at 7:00 am at the west ridge trailhead. Well, I met Craig and Matt W, but Matt Van Schitzel (Van Horn) was nowhere to be found. His car was there so we speculated about where he was and after about 10 minutes we decided to start and he came running down the trail. Dealing with a case of insomnia he decided to get up early and do a lap to the summit and then meet us for round two. Awesome.

It was pretty windy to start and after about 10 minutes it was calm and warm as we made our way up the ridge. Craig went out a little faster and I spent most of the time on the way up with Williams with MattV not far behind. We reached the summit in 1:11 and took a break to snap some pics and I had a gel. Craig had to go back down because of time constraints, but we continued on down the Church Fork trail to the Pipeline. The fall colors are at a peak right now and the trail was absolutely unreal. Stunning views in every direction. We ran the Pipeline at a pretty casual pace and at Rattlesnake Gulch Matt and I decided to go down to the canyon road instead of up and over the saddle following the Grandeur Fun Run trail. MattVS looked a little disappointed that we weren't going up. Come on Matt, you already had almost 7K in elevation gain on the day. He is definitely a vert whore (one of the reasons I love the guy).
The run down Rattlesnake was fast and fun, but unfortunately we didn't see the Millcreek flasher to the dismay of everyone. We ran down the canyon road and then back to our car at a pretty decent pace. It was an incredible morning.

St. George marathon

2011-12-14T08:45:00.000-08:00

St. George marathon. October 1st, 2011:

Signing up for this marathon 3 weeks after the Wasatch 100 was probably not the smartest thing I have ever done, but I was really excited to go down to St. George to run this race. I love the atmosphere and it is always fun to see and chat with other runners. I stayed with my friends Rob Bladen and Cody Haycock the night before at Cody's condo and I didn't get much sleep. We were up at 4:20 and out the door at 5:00. Rob had a hook up with a friend that is a volunteer and he gave us a ride up to the start. It was nice not to have to go wait for the bus. We got there 45 min before the start and we looked for the shortest POP line we could find which was pretty far from the start. By time we got out the gun went off. We hoped to be as close to the start as we could, but we ended up being 6 minutes behind the gun in a huge crowd that was not moving fast.

The first few miles were frustrating because we were stuck in the massive crowd that was not moving fast. This cost us at least a few minutes of time trying to move around and we actually ran a lot of the first two miles off the road in the dirt trying to get through. We passed Smooth and Toby and said hello at some point in there. :) After a few miles it thinned out just enough that we were finally able to pass much easier and we spent the next few miles at about a 7:15 pace passing several runners. We were laughing and joking the whole time and having a lot of fun. I decided to carry my handheld water bottle, so that I could stay hydrated and I am glad I had it. I also noticed an annoying stitch in my side that would dog me for at least 10 more miles.
At mile 5 I took a gel and the temps still seemed really good to me and we kept up the 7:00-7:20 pace to Veyo. So far I was feeling really good, but going up the hill Cody asked me for an S-Cap, so I got one for all three of us and then while I was putting them back into the pocket on my bottle the guys put a small distance on me. I tried to catch them going up the hill, but they picked up their pace and I wasn't able to keep up. At the top of the hill I picked up my pace to try and keep up but I never saw them again. I turned on my ipod and ran alone the rest of the way.

At about mile 10 I noticed that my legs were very fatigued. Not only were they tired, but they hurt a lot. This is not normal for me 10 miles into a run and I knew it was going to be a total grind the rest of the way. I had been hoping to run a 3:30, but I started to think that maybe it wouldn't happen for me. I made up my mind that I was going to run as hard as I could no matter what and see what happened.

I loved having my handheld bottle. It allowed me to run through every aid station and I never stopped to walk once the whole race. I would just take off the lid and then grab 2-3 cups of water to dump in at each aid station. Sometimes it was frustrating because the small cups would only be about 1/3 full, but usually I could get what I needed without slowing down too much. Last year I wasted so much time walking through the aid stations to drink. I also think it helped me to be better hydrated, although my stomach was sloshing quite a bit and it was annoying.
From about mile 15 on my legs hurt really bad. They have never ached like that during a run before. I kept noticing my pace getting worse and each time I really had to push to keep it down. It was tough. The worst part is by mile 18 after most of the hills my legs were so wrecked that I couldn't push the downhills at all. I don't think this marathon is easy at all.

When we finally started to make our way out of the canyon I was relieved that this was almost over, but at the same time I was dreading the last 3-4 miles. Luckily the heat never bothered me the whole race. I have been running in much hotter temps all summer so I never felt like it was bad. I knew my 3:30 wasn't possible, but I still wanted to give it everything I had and I am happy with the way I finished. I kept a solid pace in the 8's the last 3 miles. I didn't enjoy anything about the last 3 and I think they are as tough as any miles I have ever run. I wanted the race to be over. I just wanted to be done and I kept thinking I am never doing this race again. Ever.

When I finally made the last turn and saw the finish I was a little demoralized because it looked so much farther than I had remembered it from last year. I did pick up my pace and just grinded to the finish. When I stopped the pain in my legs was severe. I somehow made it over to the grass where I crashed behind two girls and rolled around in pain for about 10 minutes. Then I heard someone say "Hey Kelli, how did you do?" and I looked up to see I had been lying right behind Kelli Stephenson and another blogger (can't remember her name). Kelli was so nice and went and got me two Diet Coke's and offered to go get me whatever I wanted. What a life saver!!! Thanks Kelli! Not only were my legs really hurting, but now my stomach was feeling sick and the Coke really helped to settle it. I could not have walked over there myself. After about 30 minutes I could finally stand, but it really hurt. My legs didn't even hurt this much after Wasatch 100.

I did PR by 10 minutes, but I can't say that I am happy with that at all. I know I can run faster and that is frustrating, but I can't blame anyone but myself for the lack of marathon training that I have done this year. I did have a great time though and got to see a lot of bloggers. Congrats to everyone for finishing. Congrats to Rad who was sicker than a dog and still gutted out a finish. I really am not sure if I like the SGM. I'll have to think about it for a while.

Wasatch 100 mile endurance run

2011-09-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

Sep 9th and 10th, 2011:

The Wasatch 100 has been a goal of mine for a long time. Even before I started running I had a few friends that had run it and I always thought one day I would like to be in good enough shape to do it. After having a very good running year in 2010 and making a lot of progress I felt like I was getting closer to my goal, although I knew I wasn't ready yet. I decided to put in for Wasatch and if I got in I would train as hard as I could to get ready by race day in September. When they announced the results of the lottery in February I was both excited and extremely worried. Having previously done several long adventure days in the mountains I knew that Wasatch would be a killer and I wasn't ready, but I would do everything possible to get there by race day.
I put a training plan in place and over the next 7 months I did just about everything I wanted to do. I increased my weekly mileage by 15-20 miles and more importantly increased the difficulty of the miles I was running. I tried to do a minimum of 5k feet of weekly elevation gain and do as much mountain running as I could fit into my schedule. Tough mountain miles, more miles and a monthly 30+ mile run. I did have an achilles injury that slowed me down a lot in June, but I was able to keep running and for the most part get over it. I also wanted to run as much of the course as possible before race day and I was able to run over 60 miles of the course. This was great training for me, but it also scared the hell out of me because I started to see just how tough this course is.

The night before the race I was a nervous wreck. Even though I had trained hard I knew this race would be a killer and I just didn't know how my body would perform. I had never run over 50 miles before and the elevation gain/loss in this race is more than double anything I had ever done in a day. I was worried and my friends could tell. Matt Williams invited several guys that were either running or pacing over for a pre-race BBQ and then Davy Crockett and I would be staying there because he lives only a few miles from the start. It was really fun hanging out and chatting with everyone and hearing war stories and talking about the course, but I was really nervous. I only got about 2 hours of sleep and at 3:30 am I woke up and started getting ready.

Matt drove us to the start where we met Aaron Kennard, Matt Van Horn, Steve Young and his pacer. The weather was perfect. We chatted and took a few pictures and after nervously waiting for about 25 minutes the countdown started and we were off. I was wearing my hydration vest and carried 5 gels and 55 ounces of water. The first mile was really crowded although you could pass it was tough. I did move ahead of quite a few slower runners and I was feeling pretty good except for a small stitch in my side. The trail becomes a single track and this made it more difficult to pass. I was getting stuck behind big groups that were content to run at a slow pace. Eventually I was able to get ahead of a lot of the slower runners and settled in with a good group about my speed around mile 3. We seemed to stay together for the next several miles as we climbed up the steep trail to the Chinscraper summit. I spent the next hour or so mentally preparing myself for what was to come as I steadily grinded my way up the mountain. The group I was with didn't talk much and at about mile 7 I finally turned on my ipod. The higher we got the more the wind was blowing and I was worried that it would be bad up on the ridge tops.
When we passed Cool Springs a few from our group stopped to fill their bottles, but I still had plenty of water so I kept going. I was feeling really good and the climb up to the top of the Chinscraper was a lot of fun. I reached the top with about 4-5 other runners. The views are impressive, but I didn't take much time to enjoy them and got into a nice steady running pace across the mountain slope. I was now running with a guy from Pasadena California and we chatted for the next few miles until the trail crested the ridge again where we got blasted with the wind. For the next few miles you run along and around the ridge top and the wind pounded us pretty good. I was really hoping that it wouldn't be like this all day or it would have been miserable. I also noticed some dark clouds moving in from the west and thought it could be a sign of thunderstorms later in the afternoon and it made me nervous.

At around mile 12 I was surprised to pass Crockett. He was just off the trail and making some kind of gear adjustment. I said Hi and kept going. He passed me around Grobbens Corner where I stopped to fill up my water and then we ran near each other for the next mile as we passed Francis Peak and then ran the road down to the Francis Peak aid station at mile 18.7. I really opened it up running down the road and my pace was in the 7's for about 3 miles and it felt good to push things a little. I arrived at the aid station feeling good, but I wanted to make sure I was hydrated and had plenty of energy. I also had several things I needed to take care of. I drank a Cytomax that I had in my drop bag, put on sunscreen and my sunglasses, wiped off my face and ate some salted potatoes, a few fig newtons, some fritos and then took a bunch of grapes that I could eat as I walked. It wasn't a quick stop, but I wanted to stay energized. One of the volunteers filled up my hydration pack for me and I was a little worried about it getting sealed up, but I forgot to check it and it ended up leaking and took me a few minutes to stop and fix it about a mile down the trail.

I walked for a few minutes while I finished the grapes and then I slowly got back into a running pace. My stomach was now a bit upset because I had eaten a lot and I wasn't in a good groove at all. I grinded away for the next few miles running alone. I never did feel great, so I didn't try to push things. I came to the place where Matt Rick, Matt V. and I had been lost about a month ago and I knew right where to go this time, although there were nice flags to follow unlike the day we were there. I crossed the river and from here the trail climbs about a thousand feet up to the Bountiful B aid station. I started getting hot and the trail was atrocious. It was very overgrown and it seemed muggy and I started to feel sick. I was hot and sweating a lot and lost my mojo. I just tried to keep going and was hopeful that I would get my energy back. I immediately took an S-Cap and a gel and tried to drink as much water as I could. I think about 7-8 runners passed me here and it was really demoralizing. It was the first time the thought that I might not finish entered my head. I quickly sent it away and just tried to grind.

I have never been so happy to see an aid station as I was to see the Bountiful B. I got a slight boost of energy and as I got closer and I could see my good friend Matt Van Horn waiting for me and giving me some encouragement. It was great to see him and it instantly lifted my spirits. He grabbed me some salty potatoes and a Gu brew and after a few minutes of chatting he wished me luck and I was back on the trail. That really helped me a lot and my mood was looking up. About 10 seconds out of the aid station I just about threw up and it took me a minute or two to keep it down while I walked up the trail. I met a guy from Alaska who was also doing his first 100 and we chatted and ran together for about the next 30 minutes. There was a construction project on the dirt road that we were running and there were 4-5 construction trucks that passed us kicking up a lot of dust. There were a few other runners that we passed and talked with and I started feeling much better and got into a pretty good running pace again.

I ran into the Sessions Lift off aid station (mile 28.2) and a volunteer asked if she could fill my water up and I was apprehensive about this the rest of the race, but I just made sure to check it every time. I gave her my pack and then grabbed a PB&J and some more potatoes. A friend of mine Jeremy S. came into the aid station and we chatted for a few minutes and then decided to get going together. Going out of the aid is a pretty tough climb and we tried to keep a decent pace up the hill while we talked. After about 15 minutes he found another gear and pushed it ahead and I was again by myself for a while. He went on to finish in just over 27 hours. Amazing! It is about 6 miles to the next aid station. The trails were steep and tough, but some of the most incredible I have ever been on. Running on the back side of Grandview Peak was incredible. I ran with another group of 3-4 guys for a few miles and it was definitely better than running alone. It started to get really hot and I just tried to focus on drinking and taking salt and making sure I was on top of taking gels. The next 3-4 miles were really hot and draining.

The Swallow Rocks aid station was definitely a sight for sore eyes. I was a bit dehydrated and I ended up taking quite a lot of time there eating and drinking and making sure I was energized. I ate a lot and drank 3-4 cups of Gu brew. I was feeling much better and I took a root beer popsicle as I walked out of the aid station. It tasted amazing. I quickly found my running groove again and the next several miles I kicked it into gear. I found a really good pace and I was even running the hills. I passed several people and my mood really imporoved and I noticed a smile back on my face. I was also getting excited because the next aid stop I would get to see my crew and get to have a pacer the rest of the way.

As I descended into the Big Mountain aid (mile 39) I noticed that my toe nails were starting to get slightly sore. I was a little worried about it and decided to change my shoes at Big Mountin. About a half mile away I could hear the cowbell and I really got excited. When I finally came around the bend and could see the aid station below I was extremely happy. I ran into the aid and the crowd was cheering and I saw Matt Ricks and gave him a five. I was rushed to a scale and my pack was taken off and my crew (my wife, friend Kerri Wintle, my friend Greg and his wife Amy Nicholsen) started to hover around me and ask me questions. I hadn't lost a pound which was great news. My crew got me over to a chair and started to go to work. It was a bit confusing, but eventually they got me some food and more Cytomax and then my crew chief Greg gave me an incredible leg massage. It was great to see my wife there and she gave me some encouragement. After fixing me up I gave my wife a kiss and thanked te crew and then it was back to the trail. My pacer, Kerri was shivering and cold and I thought it was a great sign. When I was up here to run this section a month ago it was hot and I knew that we were getting lucky with the weather. Kerri is a good friend of my wife. She is a very fast marathon runner and I was excited to have someone with me. We started off hiking up the semi-steep grade and I was feeling really good. My spirits were high and I wasn't hurting anywhere.

Kerri and I had a great time. We laughed and joked and chatted and the miles just started clicking by. When we reached the summit of Bald Mountain we stopped to snap a few pics. From here the trail gets really rocky as you run down the ridge. We passed a few runners and had a very good pace going, although we took it easy on the steep descents. We met a guy from Boston that we chatted with for a few minutes and in what seemed like no time we were coming into the Alexander Ridge aid station. They were having a beach party there and it was a fun atmosphere. I ate a PBJ sandwich, more potatoes, some chips and a brownie. I was feeling really good. We laughed and joked with the volunteers and then headed out on the grassy Rogers trail. The trail slowly climbs for a few miles and we would run wherever it wasn't too steep and then hike the steeper sections. Again the miles flew by while Kerri and I chatted and joked and laughed. I was feeling very strong and fresh.

We had passed a few runners on our way up to the junction and so far nobody had passed us at all while we had moved by quite a few runners. We were now alone and we would be all the way into Lambs Canyon. For a few minutes we thought we were off the trail, but eventually we saw some flagging and knew we were where we needed to be. After a small bushwhack we were out on the trail up to the Lambs aid (mile 53) and we ran strong up the hill and got some good cheers from the crowd. My next pacer, Craig Lloyd was there to meet me and he took off my pack and hustled me over to the weigh in where I came in exactly the same as Big Mt.

My crew went to work grabbing me food and drinks and helping me change my shoes into the Hokas. It would be dark soon, so I got a headlamp and a long sleeve shirt and after a few minutes Craig and I were checking me out of the station and heading up Lambs Canyon. I was feeling really good and we had a good fast hiking pace up the hill with an occasional run when it wasn't too steep. We passed a few runners and set our sights on another group just ahead. I was feeling very good to have Craig pacing me all the way to the finish. Not only had he run every step of the last 47, but I trust his judgment more than anyone, so I new I was in good hands. We passed the next group at the Lambs trail and then climbing up the 1500 feet to Bear Bottom Pass we passed several more runners. I was feeling strong and we were having a great time. At the pass we settled into a run all the way down to Millcreek Canyon where we passed a few more groups of runners.

The climb up the Millcreek Canyon road was actually a lot of fun. Many runners talk about how they hate this section, but Craig and I were laughing and joking most of the way up. It was definitely getting colder and Craig would remind me to take a gel and an S-Cap and he seemed to always be on top of when I had my last one and when I needed to take them. Our crew passed us about 10 minutes before Upper Big Water (they had been eating Italian food down in the valley) and I was excited to see them again.

At Upper Big Water my crew sat me in a chair, put a blanket on me and started feeding me sandwiches and chicken soup. I was still feeling really good and strong and nothing was hurting at all, so I only had to focus on eating and staying hydrated. I got to talk to Dusty Haycock who is a friend and as finished Wasatch a few times. He gave me some advice and after a few minutes Craig was ready to get moving. I put on an extra long sleeve shirt and some gloves and we headed up the Upper Big Water trail to Dog Lake. Craig and I were still having a great time telling stories and laughing. It was definitely getting colder, but once we got moving it didn't feel bad at all.

We made it to Dog Lake and it was just amazing to see in the middle of the night. The descent to the trail junction was painful on my toes and I knew that at some point I was going to have to take care of them, but the next few miles would be up hill or flat so it wouldn't be a worry. The climb up to Desolation Lake was memorable. It was tough and I was getting tired, but I had Craig tell me as many inappropriate stories as he could and he obliged me with some pretty good ones. It really helped to make the time go by and soon we were making our way into the Desolation aid station (66.9) where there were several runners that were looking terrible, including the runner from Boston that Kerri and I had met earlier below Bald Mt. Craig and I were joking and laughing with the aid station volunteers and I ate some soup and Craig fed me a PBJ because my hands were full to the delight of the station workers. Everyone laughed about that. The guy from Boston left and the aid station volunteers asked us to keep our eye on him because he wasn't doing well. We didn't want to stay there long, so we were right behind him. Craig had given me strict instructions that I couldn't sit by the fire and that I shouldn't get near it. The rest of the way he would give me instructions before every aid station, telling me what I could or couldn't do and how long we could stay etc. I really appreciated this.

On the climb up to the crest we passed a few more runners including the guy from Boston and when we topped out on the Crest trail there were a few runners there with us that we quickly passed as well. I'm not sure what happened but all of the sudden I was feeling really good and strong and I just started running at a pretty decent pace. For the next few miles we passed more runners and most of them were hiking the rolling hills, while Craig and I were running them. I was feeling so good and had one of those runners high moments. With the moon and stars out and just being there in that moment was awesome. We ran into the Scott Hill aid station (70.7) and I was feeling pretty good. I sat down on a chair and they brought me some chicken soup while Craig took care of getting me some gels and filling up my water. I think I sat there too long because I got very cold and I kind of lost my mojo.

The descent down to Brighton was just tough. It is downhill the whole way and with each step my toe nails would hurt more and more. I tried to run but the pain was pretty sharp, so I stuck with a fast hike, well, I'm not sure how fast we were really going, but for being 70+ miles in it seemed fast. The 5 mile descent was tough and I was really happy to limp into the Brighton lodge so my crew could give me some TLC. I have to admit I was pretty out of it. I was just getting exhausted. I weighed in 4 lbs heavier than Lambs which seemed odd. My crew got me a hot sandwich, a hashbrown, half a grilled cheese and some Gu brew. I decided to change my socks and also get into my tights because it was really getting cold out there. I also had them get my trekking poles to help me on the descents because of my toes. Amy was so sweet and took care of my feet, putting some mole-skin on my toes. I also got to chat with Matt Ricks and Bryce for a few minutes. It was good seeing them. We took a long stop and it definitely helped a lot, but it was very hard to get out that door into the cold knowing I had to go 25 more miles.

We were moving slow up to the pass and several runners passed me. It was a little demoralizing, but Craig stayed very positive the whole time and that helped a lot. I was starting to drag and I really slowed down. The downhills were even worse because of my toes and the descent into the Ant Knolls aid station (80.2) was hell on my feet. I was slow. We got to the aid and Craig told me not to sit by the fire. I had a breakfast of sausage, hashbrowns and Coke. Yeah! I was pretty tired, but Craig got me moving again and the steep hill climb out of the aid station might be the steepest climb on the course. It is tough and it was definitely a grind. We could hear the bugle from the aid every few minutes and it made us laugh. At the top of the climb the sun started to come up. Wow! The views in every direction were pretty darn good. Even though I was feeling pretty hammered I still tried to enjoy the occasional view.

The 3 miles to Pole Line Pass were a grind and I was happy to get there. Craig got me more breakfast (pancake, eggs and Coke) and I actually fell asleep while eating, so he got me up and moving again. I fell asleep with the plate of breakfast in one hand and the Coke in the other without spilling anything. The next aid was Rock Springs (mile 87) which was 4 miles away. The scenery on this section is unreal and Craig would point out a peak or a lake and I would take a few seconds to look and think wow this is incredible up here. I would love to be up there when I was feeling fresh without hurting toes. I wasn't enjoying it as much as I normally would be. I was still able to run some, but not anything downhill. The flats and uphill were ok, but anything that went down would really hurt my toes and I tried not to complain too much about it, but it was definitely bothering me.

There were a few really tough hills to cover and eventually Rock Springs came into view and I was relieved. We stopped to eat and get more water as it was really heating up now that the sun was up. I had been dreading the next section for the last few hours because I knew that it was going to be a killer. A lot of runners complain about the "Dive" and the "Plunge" which are really steep loose sections and I knew that it would be pretty bad with my toes and I was right. The descents were painful, but the worst part is I was really slow and that was irritating as we started getting passed by more runners. I started to think that I was going to come into last place at the rate I was going and I tried to pick it up where I could, but it was tough.

The next few miles were hard. I was feeling wrecked and I just wanted the race to be over. I didn't say much and just grinded away step after step and tried to stay positive. I just wanted to get to the Pot Bottom aid station because I figured I had it in the bag if I could get there and it was such a relief to see it. I just wanted to be done, so I grabbed a drink and a banana and finished them off as quickly as possible and was on my way. Craig was still eating and told me he would catch up and it didn't take him long to do that. The next two miles are a steady climb on a dirt road and my feet actually welcomed the uphill. Jun prepared me well for what was coming up on every section and he told me exactly what was coming our way and I was dreading it. 3 miles of descent on a loose rocky road. It wasn't great, but at that point all I could think about was that I was actually going to make it. I was going to finish the Wasatch 100 and even the painful toes couldn't keep my mood from looking up. A few more runners passed me because I couldn't go fast and that was frustrating because I still had some juice left in my legs and I could have really gone a lot faster if my toes weren't on fire.

After the loose road we were on a nice single track trail that drops you out right by the golf course. I was really getting excited to see my family and friends and as soon as we hit the paved road I could see my girls ahead waiting to run in the last .7 with me. Craig ran ahead to get some pictures and video of the finish and running in with my kids was awesome. They all kept telling me good job and way to go and you're awesome. It was fun. As I turned into the Homestead I could hear the crowd and the cowbells and I started to feel the emotion of everything. All of the training and all of the work and I was actually going to do it. It was an incredible feeling. I crossed the finish line with my girls and there were several friends and family there as well and I was overwhelmed with emotion. I finished, but I couldn't have done it without my incredible crew and awesome pacers. They were amazing and could not have been better. It was fun to hang out with family and good friends after the race. Bryce, Matt Williams and Matt Van Horn were there to offer me congratulations and hang out with us. It was pretty cool. My feet are wrecked. I have a few nasty blisters, but other than that I feel very good and am already thinking about putting in for the race next year. This is a phenomenal race and I don't have anything negative to say about it... well, maybe about some of the crappy, loose, steep trail on the last 25...

Here is a link to some pictures from the race:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2283628777741.128497.1459523495&l=2ec831797b&type=1

Here is a link to a video that craig put together:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOl4k2egVF0&feature=share

New half marathon PR.

2011-09-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

Hobble Creek Half marathon. August 20th, 2011:

I met Adam and Julie at 5:00 am and they drove me to the bus pick up where we ran into a few of their friends. We were dropped off a full hour before the race started. It was cold, but not too bad. After the POP lines got too big I used the woods and was shocked with what I saw. Haha!

I don't have much experience with racing this distance and I have done zero speed work this year, so I wasn't really sure how I would do or what my strategy would be. I decided to just run as fast as I could without getting my heart rate up too high. Just find a comfy quick pace and see what happens. That pace happened to be between 7:20 and 7:40 most of the race. I did go into the 6's on the down hills, but never pushed. Another goal I had was to never let my pace go into the 8's and I was very successful with that one even on the hills. I really had a great time running this race. I never felt fatigued and I just enjoyed watching and chatting with other runners along the way.

At about mile 11 there are a few hills and I loved powering up them and passing quite a few runners. The last two miles I passed 25-30 people and I think the only person that passed me was Julie's husband Adam. He was moving well. The last mile I picked it up running in the 6's and even sub 6 at the end. I definitely had much more in the tank when I finished and I think I could have gone faster, but I did not want to bonk and flame out with a few miles left, so I think I did the right think by not pushing too hard.

Kings Peak for the 9th time.

2011-09-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

August 13th 2011:

With Matt Van Horn and Josh Greenwell:

We intended to attempt a double of Kings Peak, but there were a lot of issues that slowed our progress and in the end did us in. Our first mistake was starting without any sleep around 10:45 Friday night. We all felt really good and it seemed like a good plan, but this would come back to bite us a few hours later. The other problem we had was running at night slowed us down a lot. The first 5 miles on the trail were almost 30 minutes slower than I had done them last year. This trail is very technical with a lot of rocks that have to be avoided and it is just plain hard to run in the dark on it.

Crockett was also going for a double and had started a little over 5 hours before us, so we wondered what time we would run into him and we finally did in the meadow by the big mud bog. He gave us a warning about some solid ice just below Gunsight Pass and told us it was warmer up higher, which we were happy to hear because the meadow was freezing. We didn't feel it until we would stop and then you would instantly be cold. The temps were in the 30's and none of us are used to that right now.

We ran most of the way to Gunsight Pass and from there it was hiking up the switchbacks. We were all feeling the altitude at this point. I had run most of this section last year, but just wasn't feeling it. The cool thing was with the full moon we all turned off our headlamps and hiked by the light of the moon. It was pretty awesome. After Gunsight we took the shortcut up to the plateau, making sure to avoid the icy snow Crockett had warned us about. Somehow I stayed on a rough trail all the way up, which has never happened before. Usually I get into the boulders and have to scramble through this section. Once on top I could see the other guys ahead and they were going higher up on the plateau, but it is only a little more elevation to gain.

I wore my Hoka Bondis and this proved to be a mistake, as the stability of these shoes on rocky terrain is horrible. Well, the Kings trail is littered with rocks and there are several loose boulders that have to be navigated through. This slowed me down so much and was very frustrating. Everytime we would get into the boulders my pace would slow like a snail as the other guys would get ahead and would have to wait for me to catch up. I think I tweaked my ankle at least 10 times and had a few really close calls where I almost completely turned it. Every time this would happen I would yell HOKAS! and Josh would giggle.

We got to Anderson Pass a full hour behind my time from last year. I was frustrated about that and this is about where the altitude started to hit all of us. Matt had a headache, jsh was feeling a bit dizzy and I started to get nauseated. This might have been my slowest trip from Anderson to the summit. Navigating the boulders in the dark in my Hokas while not feeling well just didn't make it speedy. If you haven't been there before, Anderson Pass to the summit is just a large pile of loose boulders. Jsh stayed with me and we slowly made our way up. Matt pushed on ahead. This was an experience that I will always remember. We were the only people on the mountain in the dark and it was very impressive. You could see the lights from distant cities at least 50 miles away and all of the surrounding peaks were lit up by the moon. The moon was so bright that I could even see a lot of our route through Henry's Fork and I was able to point out to Josh where we had started.

The higher we went the worse I felt. I have had this feeling many times. In my 9 trips to Kings I have had altitude sickness almost every time. In recent years I have been able to mitigate this by taking Diamox, which is a medication that helps your body make red blood cells at a faster rate and helps eliminate the symptoms of AMS (Accute mountain sickness). I have taken this drug many times and it has always helped. This trip I made a few mistakes. First, I only took one dose before we started and usually I would take 2-3. Second, I noticed that the medication had expired and I could tell that it wasn't as potent as it has been in years past.
I had no energy and was feeling nauseated, but I just kept plugging away. I'm sure I was dreadfully slow, but I just wanted to get to the top and get back down. Matt passed us a few minutes from the top coming down. He was cold and still had a headache. Jsh went on ahead and reached the summit a few minutes before me. As always it is a great feeling getting to the highest peak in Utah. This was a different experience because it was in the middle of the night. I'm sure not many people have done it this way. We snapped a few shots and I wanted to get down. I wanted to throw up, but I kept trying to hold it in. About 20 yards below the summit I couldn't hold it in any longer. I just started throwing up. I got down on a rock and spent about a minute heaving everything out of my stomach. Now I started to really get worried because I just lost all of the energy and water that I would need. If I couldn't replace it I would be screwed because I still had to get off the mountain.

The trip down was slow. We finally got back to Anderson Pass and I was feeling a little better, but I was shaky. I knew I needed calories, but the thought of eating made me sick. Finally we stopped and I took a gel and an S-Cap. They stayed down. We made our way across the Anderson basin to the plateau where we finaly met back up with Matt. On our way up the plateau I started feeling really sick again. When we got to the top I felt like I was going to puke again, so I layed down right on the side of the mountain. I closed my eyes and started to drift in and out of sleep. I thought I was having a conversation with Matt, but I was really in a dream like state. finally the guys got cold and as the sun started to rise they told me to get moving. I got up and felt a little better, but still didn't have much energy. I just kept moving.
Just before Gunsight Pass it started to get light and I could see Davy coming over the pass to us. I just about had a serious fall just below the icy snow field after I slipped on some solid black ice that I couldn't see. I almost took a serious tumble down the steep slope. I was able to grab a small bush and stop my fall. I greeted Davy and he looked tired, but I am sure I looked worse. I told him he was going to be the first to do a double and it seemed to perk him up. We wished each other well and I actually ran a few steps back to Gunsight Pass. I was feeling a touch better.
Below Gunsight we stopped at the spring to fill our water. I was out. I had started with 70 ounces (probably about 40 went out with my puke below the summit). I also took some shot blocks, but almost puked after two, so I didn't push my luck. I did however feel a lot better and I actually started running again. I was surprised how good I felt. After about a mile we ran into the first group of hikers heading to the summit and they were surprised to see us. They were also surprised we had already been to the top.

The run out went surprisingly well. My legs felt fresh and as I re-gained my energy I could run faster. I was still slow, but I kept a good pace most of the way back to Elk Horn crossing. I was able to get a few gels in me and it seemed to help. From Elk Horn to the finish I still felt pretty good, but I did get a stomach cramp that nagged me most of the way. We kept looking for the Quest for Kings runners because we knew that they would be passing us. We had already passed 3 early starters. With about two miles left Aaron K. and Faceless Ghost came cruising up the trail with another runner I didn't recognize. They were moving fast.

The last few miles were hard, but I actually felt pretty good. My legs were not sore. More than anything I was tired. We stopped and talked to Kim who was also doing Q4K for a few minutes and Matt ran ahead finishing about 5 minutes before us. We finished in 10:27 which was a full two hours slower than my time from last year. All of us felt like we could do another lap, but we knew it would be brutal and slow. We would have had to do it very fast because of time commitments, so we decided it wasn't going to happen. I took a brief nap in the front seat of my car and then we decided to go home.

Even though we didn't get the double I had a great time. We had a lot of laughs and got to do something very few people will ever do. If we ever try a double again we will get some sleep and start early in the a.m. which will allow us to do both summits during the daylight hours. Doing the technical portion in the dark was just really tedious and slow. I learned a lot on this run. I was happy that I was able to rebound and run out the last 10 miles. Jsh and Matt were both very strong and it was good to be out there with them. Now I want to go back and try it again.
Also congrats to Aaron Kennard for winning the Q4K marathon with an incredible 4:47 time and congrats to Crockett who finished the first ever double of Kings.

Wasatch 100 training runs

2011-09-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

I did 4 training runs on the Wasatch 100 course to get ready for the race in July and August. Here are the reports from those runs:

From the race start to Baer Canyon (17.5 miles) July 27th 2011:

With Matt Williams and Matt Van Horn. What an adventure. My alarm went off at two-fitty am this morning. It was tough downing 500 cals that early. I met MattW and MattV at W's house and after dropping off my car at the Baer Canyon trailhead Matt drove us over to the start of the Wasatch 100. I want to run as much of the course as I can before the race and this would be my first time on that trail.

The first 5 miles aren't too bad. A few hills, but you can run the whole way. It was light by time we hit mile 5 and from there is gets really steep. A few miles later the trail became really overgrown and it slowed us down a lot. Busting up over 4K in elevation to the Chinscraper was a lot of fun. The views were much better than I thought they would be. What an incredible place. About mile 10 we stopped at a spring to talk with an older guy and fill up our bottles. The water was cold and good.

Just below the Chinscraper summit I got into some loose rock and I started to slide, so I reached up to grab a hand hold on a rock and it popped off and hit me right in the knee causing a nasty puncture that was bleeding profusely. It wasn't big, but it was really deep. I put 3 band-aids on it and it didn't help at all. The blood just kept coming. Another band-aid, some moleskin and a bunch of tissue paper and about 20 minutes and it finally stopped. What a pain. The guys had to wait for me and it was cold up there with a lot of wind. The worst part is that I was so slow after that because I was afraid of ripping off the bandage with all of the overgrowth on the trail and after the Chinscraper it only got worse.

After about two miles the bandage got ripped off my a branch and I had to stop and put another band-aid and another piece of moleskin on to cover it up. The next few miles were pretty incredible. The views are amazing. Peaks, meadows and valleys below. Wow! We made it to the summit of another peak (Peak 9,401?) and bypassed a few others. On one we crossed a snowfield that was a pain and I used a rock as an ice axe.

At mile 13.7 we took the Baer Canyon trail back down to the valley. This was by far the worst part of the day. That trail was so overgrown I couldn't believe it. Someone yelled "We've got Bush" and we certainly did. Bushwhack! It was a steep motha too. Busting out of that canyon was slow. Eventually my bandage was ripped off again and I had to take it so slow because I didn't have anything to cover the wound, so I was way over-cautious. We had to make a few stream crossings, but nothing eventful the rest of the way. it was a killer workout. Just about 18 miles with 6K elevation gain. It was really tough, but we all had a lot of fun. I am totally psyched for the race. I'll post up some pics of my bloody knee.

From Bountiful B aid to Francis Peak aid and back. July 30th 2011:

The plan: Run part of the Wasatch 100 course (Bountiful B aid to Francis Peak and back) with Matt Ricks and MattVS. We thought it would be about 14 miles. What happened: We got to the BB aid station about 5:30 and started our run up toward Centerville Peak. We didn't see the trail we were supposed to be on, but we figured we could eventually get on Skyline Drive and make our way to Francis Peak and then get on the right trail on the way back. Twinkies and I summitted Centerville Peak just as the sun was rising. It was pretty awesome. We then hit a few bumps on the ridge and then bushwhacked over to Skyline where we ran to the summit of Bountiful Peak and we couls see our route. We ran down the road at a quick 6:45 to 7:00 pace for just about 3 miles. The last half mile to the Francis Peak aid station was pretty steep so it slowed us down, but we still ran most of the way up. We stopped at the aid station for a few minutes and then headed back on the W100 trail. After about 3 miles the trail crosses a stream and then starts the climb back to the BB aid station. Because the trail was so overgrown and since we didn't know where it was we missed it. We thought we made a wrong turn and then we spent the next two hours running every trail and fork in the area. Nothing made sense and we would always start to go in the wrong direction, so we would end up turning back to try something else. It was horrible, but the silver lining is that it might be the most beautiful area in the Wasatch. There were lush green meadows with wild flowers and the view of the mountains to the west. So cool! Eventually, VD called his wife and she read the directions to him from the W100 website and he quickly figured out our mistake. We had been right the first time. We just had to go back and cross the river about 30 yards from where we were and there was the trail. It was totally overgrown and was a bushwhack for about a half mile. Eventually it got better, but it is a steep climb back up to the BB aid station. We were pretty tired when we finished. We had planned on about 14, but ended up with almost 20 and quite an adventure. I'm very happy that I was able to run most of the first 23 miles of the course this week. It is pretty tough for sure. Those are not easy trails. I am totally psyched though. The views are unreal.

Big Mountain to Lambs. August 5th with Craig Lloyd and Josh Greenwell. 14 miles:

Wasatch 100 course from Big Mountain to Lambs with Craig and Josh. BUSHWHACK! I wanted to do this section of the course during the heat of the day because most people that have run Wasatch say it is the hottest section and many runners DNF after doing it. It was definitely hot out there. The trail was very overgrown in several places which slowed us down some. Jun and jsh were strong all day and I spent most of the run trying to catch them. I really enjoyed the run until we hit the Alexander flat aid station area. From there it was brutally hot and the last half mile we got into one of the most heinous bushwhacks I have ever done. This section is pretty tough, but I really enjoyed everything but the overgrowth. My legs are scratched and raw.

Lambs to Brighton with Craig Lloyd and Adam Hall on August 24th 2011:

We met at 4:15 am at the BCC PNR and after dropping off cars at Brighton we had an incident with some longboarders that had crashed coming down the canyon. Two young guys that were both bloody and dazed. One of them looked much worse than the other and kept complaining that he was going to die. We drove them to the 7-11 at the mouth of the canyon where they called some friends to come take them to the hospital. They were not wearing any protective gear and didn't have headlamps. Dumb! They are lucky to be alive.

We started at the Lambs Canyon aid area for the Wasatch 100. None of us had run this section of the course and it was really fun. After 1.6 miles up Lambs we took the trail on the right that would take us up and over the pass to Millcreek canyon. The sun came up about half way up the climb and it was beautiful in there. It was a touch overgrown, but not too bad. At the pass we had a good solid run down to the canyon road at Elbow Fork and then we all grabbed a quick snack while we headed up the canyon to Upper Big Water. We ran most of the canyon road and only hiked the steepest sections.

The trail from Upper Big Water to Dog Lake is very pretty and in great shape. We hiked most of the steeper sections and ran where we could. After Dog Lake we knew we had to get some water, so we hit the spring just below the trail junction to Desolation Lake. We all filled up our water and I got into some stinging nettle, which bothered me for about the next hour. The trail up to Desolation is steep and tough. We were all feeling it at this point. We were not moving fast.
We reached the crest and decided to bag Desolation Peak. Why not? On the summit we took a few peak jumping photos and then headed back to the trail. From there we ran most of the way back to the base of Scott Hill. Jun got ahead and was waiting for us. We stopped there and took a break and Adam and I decided we were going to climb Scott Hill and Jun had to get back, so he took off while we took a few minutes to eat some real food (granola bar, Powerbar, Fritos).
From this point on it seemed like Adam and I were climbing up. We went up Scott Hill and then after dropping down and losing some elevation we had to climb back up to the ridge to Guardsman Pass. From here we were off the W100 course and decided to climb as many peaks as we could on the Brighton ridge run. Adam was out of water, so we would have to bum some off of hikers if we wanted to do anything serious because it was very hot. We did find a few nice hikers that let us have some water, but the steep climb up to peak 10,420 and Clayton Peak was taking a lot out of us. The sun was beating down most of the time and it was a tough climb with 20+ miles and several thousand feet of elevation already on our legs. We really slowed down a lot. When we reached the summit of Clayton I ran out of water and Adam had about 16 ounces left, so we knew that we were done. That would barely get both of us back to the car and if we didn't see anyone with water we would be screwed if we tried to go further, so we decided to call it a day. We made our way back to the saddle and then ran the road back to the car that was parked in the Brighton parking lot.

We finished with 4 peaks, 8311 feet of elevation gain and just under 24 miles. I also got to run about 20 more miles of the W100 course. I really can't imagine a race course being any tougher than this one. It's coming quick.

Alpine Loop run- 43.3 miles

2011-09-26T10:43:00.000-07:00

July 4th 2011

With my wife being out of town for the week I wanted to take the opportunity to get in a long run, but I was nervous about my recent achilles issues, so I wanted something that wasn't technical and wouldn't have too much elevation, but at the same time I did want to test it out to see where I am. After a lot of thought running the Alpine Loop seemed like a really good idea, but where to start? I figured why not start at my house. It would give me the miles I was looking for and add a little extra spice to the challenge. I asked my FRB and FB friends if anyone wanted to run with me and luckily Adam Hall was in.

We met at my house a little after 3:00 am and were running in perfect temps. There were very few cars out on the roads and it was a lot of fun. We didn't want to burn ourselves out, so we ran at an easy 9:00 pace and had some really good conversation and the miles were just clicking by. It took about 50 minutes to get to the canyon and we both turned on our headlamps. The river was running high and it was really cool to run up in the dark. We didn't see the first car for a few miles and we didn't see many cars at all until we were almost to the top of the loop.
I stopped at the Timpanogos cave parking lot (mile 7.6) to refill my water and take a gel while Adam hiked up and had a snack. It took me a few minutes to catch back up to him and then we got back into a nice comfortable run. We were not pushing the pace at all and when I would check my watch we were anywhere from 10-11:30 on the uphill climb. Eventually the climb starts to get steeper and we decided to hike the steepest parts to save our legs. I did feel some slight tightness in my achilles, but it didn't last long.

The sun started coming up as we hiked the steeper sections and about a mile from the top we had a moose on the side of the road that didn't want to move. As we got closer we made some noise, but it didn't seem to want to budge until a car drove by and spooked it. The mosquitoes were a slight pain, but we had applied deet, so they never became much of an issue. The views on this run were absolutely incredible and the last few miles climbing to the top of the loop are about as good as it gets with some stunning vistas, including some really great views of Timpanogos. I showed Adam some of the climbing routes on the mountain and we stopped a few times just to take in the sights.

We were really happy to reach the top of the loop because we knew it would be all downhill or flat from there. We had well over 3K of climbing so far and my legs were ready for a change. It took about a half mile to get used to the faster downhill running, but eventually we were in a groove and loving it. From the Cascade Springs turn off to Sundance was some of the best running I have ever done. The views on this road are unreal. It was as green as anything I have ever seen in Utah. I love this loop in the fall, but it is also pretty amazing right now as well. After a few miles of running through the lush green aspen forest you start to get the views of Timp again and we were both just giddy. I was smiling and loving every minute. This was probably the best part of the run for me. Our pace kept creeping into the 7's and I kept trying to slow Adam down so we could save our legs. It was tough because that road is the perfect place to open it up. We also passed a few runners coming uphill toward us and we gave them fives and it was fun to see them smile and get excited too.

We stopped at a campground just before Aspen Grove (about mile 21) to refill our water and I took a gel. It was the fourth one I had taken and I also took an S-cap. From Aspen Grove to Sundance we started to see a lot more cars, so we had to really be careful. We cruised at an easy 8:30 pace most of the way out of the canyon, but occasionally Adam would pace us into the 6's or 7's and I would remind him to slow down.

When we reached Provo Canyon we stopped to take another break. I was really hungry, so I downed a Snickers bar and a gel, but it didn't seem like enough. The next few miles I could tell that I needed more energy. I was hoping to make it to the gas station at the mouth of the canyon to refuel, but my energy levels were definitely low for a few miles.

We stopped again at Bridal Veil falls (mile 27) to take a few pictures and I was still craving salty foods. I took another S-cap and over the next few miles kept thinking about what I wanted to eat when we got out of the canyon. About mile 29 we had a guy pass us and I could tell Adam didn't like it at all and then a few minutes later a few girls started to pass us and Adam picked up the speed, so I came along and pretty soon we were running in the 7's. :) It actually was good because before that our pace had slipped into the 10's, so the last few miles going out of the canyon we kept just under a 9 pace.

There is a gas station at the mouth of the canyon and we stopped to refuel. I really wanted some salty potatoes, but my choices were pre-made sandwiches, cold hot dogs or a burrito. I settled on a chimichanga and a Reeses cup with a large Coke. The first few bites of the Chimmy were sooo good and I was moaning with delight, but after about half of it was gone it started to taste like... well, a gas station burrito. I was about 3/4 of the way through it and it started making me sick. I told Adam that was the best and worst burrito I had ever eaten and that made him laugh.
We walked for a couple of minutes after the rest stop to get our legs going again and it was tough when we started running again, especially with several ounces of Coke and chimmy sloshing around in my tummy. The next 5-6 miles were tough. The perfect weather we had up to that point was gone. It was hot, humid and the sun was now out for the first time beating on us. We would get stopped at red lights at times and we both hated that because that meant we had to stop running and get started again, which was tough on sore legs.

About mile 37 we stopped at a Chevron to refill our water and drink some Gatorade. I noticed that almost everyone was staring at us and we were greasy, salty and I'm pretty sure downright rank. I apologized to one lady that was standing by me and she politely said it's ok. Haha. We stunk!!!

The last 6 miles were hard. I definitely prefer running in the mountains to running on city streets and when you are getting close to 40 miles it is even worse, but we just kept pushing and grinding and the miles just seemed to go by. We both felt relatively good, and my energy was up (thanks to the chimmy). About mile 41 we turned back onto the Alpine Hwy and stated the climb back up to my neighborhood. There is a nice big hill by the cemetery that we had to deal with. Adam ran the steepest part, while I hiked and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The last mile wasn't so bad. We just had a nice and easy pace and ran it all the way to the finish. It took us 8:41 and it was an incredible experience. It is the most miles I have ever run on pavement and I am not sure that I want to repeat that. It would have been nice if there had been some trails mixed in, but I can't complain. It was an amazing run

July 2011 training

2011-09-26T10:33:00.000-07:00

July was one of my best months of training ever. I had 6 runs over 13 miles and several more over 10. My long run of the month and longest to date for the year was a 43.5 mile run on the Alpine Loop on July 4th with Adam Hall. . I did do long runs on the Wasatch 100 course and I was able to get in a lot of good tough runs with a lot of climbing. My achilles injury was not healed, but getting better every week. I just made sure to ice it after my bigger runs and always wore my heel inserts. My Wasatch 100 training is right where I want it to be.

June training

2011-06-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

On May 28th I had a really fun run up Lake Mountain with Matt Van Horn. it was my 33rd peak of the year and we had a really great time. I love that run. Then on the 31st Matt and I ran Lake Mountain again, this time with Craig and we really pushed the pace. Craig and I ran almost the whole way to the top, hiking only the very steepest section near the top. We made it to the summit in just over an hour and Matt wasn't far behind. On both of these runs I really pushed the pace on the downhill, running between a 6:30-6:40 pace the whole way down. It was a lot of fun, but on the second trip my legs were very sore and I could really feel it on that run. I wasn't thinking much about it after we finished because I felt pretty good, but I went into work and found out I would be playing 18 holes of golf in just a few hours. Well, I felt good playing until about hole 15 where I noticed a pain in my achilles tendon on my left side. It got progressively worse, and at the end of the round I was limping.

Basically I have been injured all month. The first week after the injury I took it pretty easy, although I did go climb Mt. Wire 3 days later just to test it out and although it felt good during the run, it was really sore a few minutes after I stopped. I decided I better take the next week off of running which I did. I still did the elliptical and the bike at the gym, but I didn't run for a whole week.

On Sat Jun 11th I finally ran for the first time doing 3 easy miles at the gym. everything seemed to feel fine, so the next day I tested it out with an 8 mile run followed by a 15 mile run up Provo Canyon a few days later. I found that when I was running on flat terrain it felt ok and didn't make the pain worse, so I have continued to run on it, but I haven't climbed any peaks since doing Mt. Wire on June 3rd.

I saw the doctor last week and he put me on a steroid which seemed to help some. So far it has improved a lot and there isn't a lot of pain in the tendon, but I can tell that it is weak and not 100% so I have decided not to push it at all. Last Saturday I did do another 15 miler and everything felt good, so I have decided to do my long run for the month this weekend. I am looking to do between 30-40 miles, so hopefully everything will go well.

This has been a very frustrating month for me. I know that Wasatch is coming up really quick, and I have to train and stay in shape or I will be obliterated by that race, however if I push it too hard I could end up not even being able to do it at all if I am still hurt. It is a very tough position to be in and I don't like it.

Zion Traverse attempt

2011-06-28T13:19:00.001-07:00

May was a really good training month for me. I was able to complete several solid trail runs with a lot of elevation gain. The long run of the month was a sweet run in Zion National Park. We were attempting to complete the entire Zion train (East entrance to West entrance), which is about 50 miles, but we got pounded by the weaher and had to change our plans...

Zion traverse attempt with Craig Lloyd, Matt Williams and Josh Greenwell. May 18, 2011. (about 30 miles total).

We failed to complete the entire Zion traverse yesterday, but what we got instead might be the most incredible run I have ever done. The weather forecast looked terrible, but we were hoping to get lucky like we did on Stansbury Island last month. Worst case scenario we would run the East Rim trail, get wet and bail from there and we were all ok with that.

We set up camp just outside of the park for a very restless night of sleep. It rained most of the night and I had failed to properly secure my rain fly, so it was flapping all night long. Annoying. My hips and back did not like the hard ground either, but I felt pretty good when we broke camp and headed for the east entrance of the park. The weather looked like it might not get too bad. There were a lot of clouds and we even had a brief shower on the way to the park, but nothing serious. When we started it was cool, but it looked like the storm might hold off for a while.

The East Rim trail is amazing. The miles were flying by and the views were constantly impressive. We settled into an easy pace as we made the climb to the rim. We were all just enjoying the run, talking, laughing and taking pictures. It was almost like Christmas morning, as each bend brought a new and exciting view for us to take in. I was having a blast! We took our time to check out several canyons and the steep drops off of the trail.

About an hour in it started to snow on us, but only last a few minutes. For the most part on this section the weather was great. The last 4 miles of the East rim are the most impressive and I don't think you can find a more scenic trail anywhere. The steep canyons and sheer cliffs are spectacular and you wind around and down the walls on trails that have been carved into the side of the cliffs. Unreal. Eventually, we made our way into a very tight canyon with very high sheer walls on both sides. Stunning. Around the bend and Zion Canyon opens up to you and the trail down to Weeping Rock is magical. It was trail running heaven and we were all soaking it in, laughing, yelling and smiling.

At Weeping Rock we ran down the canyon road to the Grotto, where we met my nephews that had been waiting for us. I took some Cytomax, and we all used the restroom there. Just as we were about to leave it started to rain and the weather only got worse from there. We ran across the street and started our climb up the West Rim trail (Angels Landing Trail). It is very steep and gains a few thousand feet very fast. We only ran a small portion of this because it is just so steep. We had a good hiking pace, but after about 20 minutes Jun and I broke out the garbage bags to keep the rain off. Dorsimus was having some stomach issues and slowed a bit, but he kept pushing hard and we passed several tourists on their way up to Angels Landing.

When we got to the Scout Overlook near Angels Landing the weather had not improved, but we decided to keep pushing up. The trail was wet and we were mostly hiking the steep slopes up to the West Rim. It was gorgeous. All of the rain had caused several water falls to start spilling over the cliff faces and it was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.

At about mile 17 we had to climb a really steep slope and we were just getting pounded with snow. It was cold and whenever we would stop for a few seconds we would get chilled. We stopped at a spring so Matt could get some water and it was snowing hard. We were all quite cold and my fingers were numb. At that point it things got ugly. The trail turned into a mud bog, the weather showed no signs of improving, we were going slow and we still had 30 more miles. Jun thought it might be a good idea to turn around and after talking and thinking about it we all came to the same conclusion. It would have taken us considerably longer to finish the traverse, we were already wet and cold and we were one broken ankle or accident away from someone getting hypothermia. Not to mention it was just nasty. It was an easy decision.

There was some initial disappointment when we turned around, but after a few minutes we were running again and my numb hands and toes started to warm back up. Our spirits picked up and we were having fun again. We took a break to drink some fresh rain water spilling off of one of the cliffs and then we had a really fun (although wet) run back down to Angels Landing. We had planned on climbing it, but the weather actually got worse and it was raining hard and the wind had picked up as well, so we took a break in some rocks that had a nice roof shelter and we decided it was just too nasty. I am a peak bagger and rarely miss an opportunity to grab a summit and we were very close to tagging Angels Landing, but I had no interest in going up that thing in those conditions.

After the break we ran all the way back down to the Grotto. The trail was really wet and full of tourists. I got a little behind the other three as I just tried to take it easy. Jun was setting a pretty face past all the way down. There was so much water coming off of the cliffs that we actually had to run right through a waterfall. It was pretty cool.

Back at the Grotto we decided to run back down the canyon to the visitors center to get in a few more miles. My legs did not like the pavement as much as the trails, but the views were stunning. We were all in good spirits and even though we didn't complete the traverse we had an

amazing time. I would say that there is no trail anywhere that can top these views. I was awe the entire day and I can't wait to go back and finish it off .

30 miles on Stansbury Island 4/29/11

2011-05-06T09:33:00.000-07:00

I wanted to get in a long training run for the month so I started looking at some possible trails and I came across what looked like a really good one. It is a 10 mile loop on Stansbury Island out on the Great Salt Lake. I asked Craig if he wanted to come and he was in and then Josh and Matt also wanted to come, so the four of us headed out to the island on what we thought might be a terrible weather day. The forecast was for snow and rain all day, and on our way out there we were driving in rain and hail and I thought it might turn out to be a long day, but the closer we got the island the better the weather looked.

The trail is pretty straightforward. We started on the west side of the island and then immediately climbed 800 feet to the crest, where we followed the trail around the rim, in and out of a few canyons and then back down on the southwest side of the island, where we ran a trail to the road and back to our car. The first loop was really fun and all of us were feeling really good. The trail can be tricky with a lot of rocks, obstacles and some steep cliffs off to the side. We all stayed together and ran at a pretty decent pace. When we got back down to the road I stopped to take a few pictures and the guys kept running, so I did finish a few minutes behind.

It was nice being able to stop at the car every 10 miles to fuel up and hydrate. On stop number one I ate a banana, had a V-8 and some Powerade. We decided to do lap two in reverse and Craig and Josh were really setting a quick pace and after a couple of miles my stomach just wasn’t feeling right. At about mile 13 the other guys started pulling away and I wouldn’t catch them. Lap 2 was pretty tough for me, but after my stomach started feeling better I got into a pretty good groove and tried to keep the pace in the 9’s. The guys were waiting for me at the car and we re-fueled and then started lap 3 the same way we did number 1. The 800 ft. climb was tough, but it was actually nice to give my legs a short break from all the pounding. At the crest the other guys pulled away again over the next mile as I was just not feeling great.

At mile 23 I was looking off of the edge of a cliff at the spectacular views and my foot clipped a rock that sent me face first off the side of the trail. I almost lost my water bottle over the edge and that would have been a disaster, as it had all of my water and a few gels and I still had 7 miles to go. I banged my knee and tweaked my ankle, but it wasn’t serious. When I rounded the last bed before I descended I could see the other guys below me on the trail and it was the last I would see of them until I got back to the car.

Miles 25-28 were tough. I just tried to get into a groove, but it was difficult. When I finally got back to the road I actually felt better and I was able to keep the pace around 9:00 all the way to the finish where I came in exactly 30 miles. I did not have a great day out there, but I am encouraged that my legs did not feel very fatigued at the finish. Usually I get pretty sore if I run over 25 miles but today my legs felt solid. I did have some stomach and energy issues and other than the first lap I never really felt like I was in a great groove, but I feel good about the miles and the scenery could not have been much better.

Here are a few photos from our run.

Total time: 5:30 3350 ft. of vert.

April Training

2011-04-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

I have had some really fun runs/climbs the last few weeks. On 4/14 I made a quick run up to the summit os South Mountain above Herriman. This is the mountain that burned in Sep 2010 and most of the trees and brush have been scorched. There were very few animals and bugs and it was quite surreal to be climbing up. It was very quiet until I reached the ridge where the wind blasted me. It was COLD! It was a really fun run though and I reached the top in 38 minutes. This is a fun run/hike if you only have a few hours.

Last week I got out for two runs on the Bonneville Shoreline trail above the East side of Salt Lake and the University of Utah. Matt and I ran from the Avenues Twin Peaks trailhead to the summit of both peaks and then down to Dry Canyon and up Mt. Van Cott as well. It was a really fun run and the views were amazing.

Then two days later I headed up by myself to the summit if Mt. Wire and then ran the BST to Red Butte Canyon and back before work. I really love this trail and it is an excellent place to get a good run in with some elevation gain.

Here are a few pics from South Mountain

April training

2011-04-13T08:23:00.000-07:00

Despite our horrible weather along the Wasatch Front, April has been going very well so far. On Saturday the 2nd Matt Van Horn and I climbed Mt. Olympus and had a really fun day. There was quite a lot of snow after the stream crossing and I wore my micro-spikes for traction and they really seemed to help. From the saddle to the summit the gully was full of snow and there were some nice bucket steps most of the way up to the summit, with only a few sketchy areas, but nothing serious. Last week I climbed Mount Wire on Wednesday with Matt and then later in the day ran 6 more miles on the BST in Draper. My legs were really feeling it. Yesterday I had a really fun run with Matt Williams and Craig up the Dimple Dell gully from just past Jordan High school all the way up to Bells Canyon Reservoir and back (13.3 miles). We really pushed the pace and I finished in 1:55. The weather was almost perfect. This morning I got up early and hiked/ran Mt. Wire with Matt Van Horn again. We had a lot of fun, even though I was a bit sluggish. My legs felt really good considering the run yesterday, but my energy levels were a bit low. That makes 23 summits for 2011 and I am on target to hit my goal of 65 for the year. Some random thoughts: I have really noticed that I have been watching the weather a lot more than normal this Spring/Winter. Trying to get 65 summits can be challenging for several reasons, and it has been tough to find enough good days to get out with all of the crappy weather. I find myself watching the weather a few times per day and then trying to predict when the best weather windows for success. For the most part I have had a lot of success and I haven't been caught in much inclement weather so far this year. There was the one day on Grandeur a few months ago that Matt Van Horn and I only made it up the trail about 100 yards before turning around because the wind was so fierce and cold that going up would have been crazy. Other than that though things have really worked out. Other random thoughts: I have found that I have been eating the same things before most of my morning adventure runs/climbs and so far it seems to really be working out for me. This is what I typically eat before tagging a morning summit or going on a longer run: 1 proten shake (Whey protein mixed with milk). 1-2 boiled eggs. Depending on if I can stomach two. banana. I have found that if I am climbing a peak that will take me less than 2 hours, I don't need to take any gels or energy, and my 20 ounce handheld water bottle is sufficiant. If it will be longer than two hours I'll take a gel every hour along with a salt pill if I am sweating a lot. For longer runs I usually take a gel about every 45 minutes. This seems to keep my energy up. My gel of choice is Hammer raspberry or Montana Huckleberry. As many of my friends know I tend to have a bit of a weak stomach and I can usually get these down without much of a problem.

Buffalo Run 50K

2011-03-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

With 4,000 feet of elevation gain and 32 miles this is a very tough race, but one I thoroughly enjoyed. This would be the first of my longer training runs in preparation for the Wasatch 100. I will be doing at least one long tough training run each month until September. Full race report: I had heard a lot of good things from friends about the Buffalo run, so I wanted to do it this year. I was trying to decide between the 50k and the 50m, and I knew that I could grind out the 50m, but I hadn't run anything long since October and I wanted to gradually build up my miles for later in the year, so I decided on the 50k. I had several friends doing the race, but I was late getting to the start and by time I got to the line we were within a minute of starting. Seth Wold saw me and said hi and we chatted for a bit and I told him to go get it and Jim started the countdown. I started out in the front of the pack and within a minute I found my good friend Mat Williams, so the two of us talked during the first mile while we went up the long hill. Eventually he dropped me, but I wasn't far behind. So far I was feeling good, but didn't want to push too hard because I knew it would be a long course. After we crested the first big hill I could still see Matt, and I wanted to catch up to him so we could chat, but he was moving pretty fast, so I picked up my pace to a 7:00 and finally caught him around mile 4. We chatted some, but he dropped me again before the Lone Tree hill, where I decided to power hike. At the first aid station I just stopped long enough to fill my bottle and then I took off. The run down into the valley was fun and I resisted the temptation to push it hard, although I did pick up my pace and it felt good. There was a group of about 15 of us that headed up the switchbacks together. Everyone was pushing pretty good and it seemed to help me push not wanting to get passed. I ran most of the time, but on the steepest section I power hiked while taking a gel and an S-cap. The run back to Elephant Head aid station was a bit muddy, so it was a little tricky staying out of it, but overall the course was in excellent shape. I was still feeling really strong, so I didn't even stop at the aid station. Just before the drop to Lone Tree I passed my friend Dustin Erickson, who placed 6th in the 25K. We missed our high five attempt and then I saw my friend Nick at the bottom of the hill and I made sure I didn't miss this time and gave him a good smack on the shoulder. I wish I could have stopped to say hi, but I didn't want to stop my momentum. Just before climbing the hill back up to the flats I saw my longtime friend Allison from high school and we exchanged "Hi's". On the hill I took another gel and an S-cap and once on top I tried to get into a nice steady pace without pushing too hard. I wanted to save my energy for the second lap. Once I came around the bend I could see the aid station and the wind picked up quite a bit. I tried to pick up my pace on the downhill and I was still feeling really good. I passed Matt just before the aid station and he was looking good. At the aid station I looked for my drop bag where I had some Cytomax and I had a good drink of that and downed a gel. I was thinking about dropping my long sleeve shirt, but it was so windy that I thought I might need it again. I said hi to Lily and she helped me with a few things and I was off. That was my longest stop of the race. The first hill on the second loop was an absolute killer. I thought I was feeling pretty good until I started the climb and all of the sudden my energy was gone. I felt wasted. I was thinking I must not be very tough if I am feeling like this at this point. I just tried to power hike and hoped my energy would come back. What made it worse was the strong headwind pounding us relentlessly. I was kind of in a funk from about mile 17-20 and it was very tough to climb back out. The hill took a lot out of me and once I reached the top it was hard to get going again. I was running a 9:30 pace and tried to speed up, but my legs just wouldn't go. Finally when I reached the Lone Tree hill I started power hiking again, took another gel and an S-cap and hoped I would be feeling good at the top. I filled my water at the aid station and then thankfully on the descent back into the valley I found my groove again. My legs started to feel better and I picked up the pace a lot. I passed 4-5 people that had passed me while I was in my funk and by time I reached the switchbacks to climb back up I was feeling strong and energized. The climb up the switchbacks was so fun. I felt just as good as I had on lap number one and I passed a few more people on my way to the top. I passed the marathon distance around 4:30, which isn't fast unless you consider the elevation gain over over 3K that I had already put in. Just before the top I had another gel and S-cap on the steepest section as I hiked and when I reached the top I had two runners in my sights. I was feeling good and eventually passed a guy that was trying to hold me off and then I tried to catch a girl that was moving great. I followed her all the way to the aid station where I finally passed her because my stop was less than 20 seconds to get water. On the downhill I pushed the pace and felt great, but noticed that my second toe on my right foot was hurting a lot. I had put some mole-skin on the toe to prevent a blister and I remember there was a crease at the bottom and I knew that was causing it. It really started to hurt, so at the bottom on the hill I stopped and took off my shoe, gaiter and sock and removed it. I hated stopping, especially since I was feeling so good, but it helped a lot and I felt better. The girl I had passed at the aid station passed me again and I would follow her into the finish. The last 4 miles were fun. I was feeling as good as I had felt all day and nothing hurt, except my toe a little where I had the mole-skin. I actually ran a lot of the last 4 in the 8's and felt so good and strong. Except for the girl nobody had passed me in at least 12 miles and I reeled in 4-5 runners that last 4 miles. I wanted to pass the girl, but she as strong and kept pushing hard. Once we came around the bend and could see the finish we both picked it up and there was another runner in our sights. She passed him with about a quarter of a mile left, but he picked up his pace a lot at the end and I couldn't make up the distance. I was still feeling really strong at the end and felt like I had a lot left in the tank, which makes me feel really good about my training so far this year. It was good to see Matt at the finish. I was really happy for him. He ran a great race and had made incredible strides this year. It was also fun to see Craig and Kelli come in on the 50 mile race. They were awesome. I also got to say hi to Crockett, Bryce and hang out with Seth and the guys for a while and eat some buffalo stew. This was a really fun event and was very well organized and I had a great time. Congrats to everyone that ran and to those that reached their goals. Also, props to Bryce for going 30+ miles while fighting a nasty cold. It is very inspiring to watch everyone out there and makes me want to get better. I finished in 5:37 and I was very happy with that. My goal had been 5:30 and I felt like I would have to run a perfect race to hit it.

Grandeur Peak 3/18/11

2011-03-30T10:22:00.000-07:00

Matt Van Horn and I decided we would do a pre-work climb/run of Grandeur Peak via the West Ridge. This would be 8 days before the Buffalo run, so it would give my legs plenty of time to recover for the race. Here is the report I put on my training blog: I woke up at 4:00 am to go climb/run Grandeur Peak with Matt Van Horn this morning. We definitely had our challenges today. First of all it was wicked cold at the start, and the wind that beat down on us for the first 30 minutes was horrible. That West ridge is sure windy and exposed. At least the lower trail was dry. The last mile to the top took us forever because there was about a half inch of light powder on top of a icy hard crust, and no tracks or trail, so we slipped and slid the rest of the way up. It was tough and slow. We finally hit the summit in 1:40, which is 20 minutes slower than the last two times we did it. It was still dark when we reached the summit and I took a gel and checked out the incredible view of the valley lights below. Heading down the back side was also quite challenging because the snow had a hard crust that you would punch through to deep powder. It was slow going down to the saddle where we finally hit a packed snow trail. I guess we were the only ones dumb enough to go to the top. After descending off the steep east face I took a look down into the valley and back up at Grandeur. Wow! What a view. You really have to work for a view like this and it gave me chills. Very awe inspiring. We ran down to Church Fork, and then on the Pipeline to Rattlesnake Gulch. From there we ran down to the canyon road and then back to the car. It took us almost an hour longer than the last time we did this route two weeks ago. It was a lot of fun anyway. We saw some deer, elk and had some impressive views along the way. This route is definitely one of my favorites.

February/March training

2011-03-15T13:21:00.001-07:00

I have really had a fun month training for the Buffalo 50K on Antelope Island that will be held on March 26th. I have tried to do some kind of training daily with at least one bigger training day each week. I have been out to the island twice in the last month with Craig and Matt to run. The first time we went out and ran the 25/50K loop and had an incredible time, and then we went out and ran a portion of the 50M course that runs along the shore on the east side of the island. We did a 21.5 mile day, which was my longest run so far this year. Other than a little bit of mud at the end it was a perfect day.

Last Saturday I did a 19 mile run on the Jordan River Parkway in Lehi. The day before I had wanted to do 20+ on the same trail but because of some work issues I only got in 8, so I had to go back the next day. It was an incredible run by myself in perfect temperatures. The Saturday before I ran Grandeur Peak again with Seth Wold, Matt Van Horn, Bill Hiatt and two other friends. It was such a fun morning. We hiked up the West ridge to the summit and then ran down to the Pipeline trail, where we continued to Rattlesnake Gulch and then out the canyon and back to the cars. It is only 11 miles, but feels like a lot more with all of the elevation gain/loss.

I have continued to run as many peaks as possible, and I usually try and do at least two every week, although sometimes I have to settle for one. So far I have climbed 17 peaks in 2011 and I have a goal of getting 65 which I should be able to do as long as I keep up my current training schedule. Mt. Wire, Grandeur Peak and Lake Mountain are still the peaks I have been climbing most because I can get up and down quickly and then get into work, but I am really getting excited for the Spring mountaineering season. This year I want to do the Triple Traverse, the Pfeifferhorn, Lone Peak and possibly the Grunge couloir and the Beatout (White Pine to Bells).

Mount Wire X 5

2011-02-16T15:31:00.000-08:00

The end of last year I had some really fun adventures. One worth note was doing Mount Wire 5 times in a day. I did this with Matt Van Horn, Judy Z. and Michael H. It was an incredible day.

Last year on Black Friday MatthewVH and I climbed Upper Bells Peak to work off our Thanksgiving fat and we had a much better time than all of those shoppers wrestling over discounts. At least we thought so. We had been talking about doing multiple ascents of Mt. Wire for quite a while, and figured this would be the perfect day. The storms that came through earlier in the week changed the conditions dramatically, bringing in a lot of snow that would change this from a hike/run on a nice trail, to deep snow and below freezing temps. We talked about doing something else, but decided to just go for it and have a great time.

The route we would be taking to the summit is just over 4 miles with about 2200 feet of elevation gain. It is pretty steep and last week I climbed it car to car in 1:12, but the conditions were completely different when we arrived at the trailhead. There was snow covering the entire trail. Matt and I were joined by our friends Michael and Judy, who are both local mountaineering vets. Because of the cold and snow we looked like a group about to climb Mt. Rainier and not something as simple as Wire. The temperature was a balmy 10 when we started. I had been debating on what shoes to wear and had to settle for my Gortex hiking boots in order to keep my feet dry. I did however bring along a few pairs of trail runners just in case I thought they would work.

Summit #1: The first climb was started just as it was starting to get light. It was bitter cold, but after only a few minutes I was plenty warm. I wore a Windstopper fleece vest, jacket and hat, gloves, two long sleeve shirts and a short sleeve poly-pro shirt. A few people had already been up since the last storm, so we were able to follow their tracks, but there was still plenty of snow. We hiked fast to the ridge and from there the real slog started. Hiking in the snow is much more exhausting than on a trail and I started to get warm really fast. At the saddle Matt stopped for a wardrobe adjustment and I lead the way with Judy behind me and then Michael behind her. We chatted the whole way up about peaks we wanted to climb and various adventures that we wanted to tackle in 2011. There was no wind at all and the sun just started coming up over the peaks to the east as we reached the first towers. I made it to the top first in 1:03, with Judy right behind. Michael was a few minutes behind and then Matt about 5 minutes later. We took a group photo and then quickly headed down. We could kind of jog on the descent, but had to take it easy on the steeper sections because it was icy. I was first back to the car with Matt and Judy right behind. Total time 1:37. We took about a 10 minute break, eating some snacks and hydrating. I took a gel and ate a granola bar.

Summit #2: The other 3 took off before I was ready and it took me about 3 minutes to finish my gear adjustments and snacks. I took off my fleece jacket. It was still cold, but I felt great. It took me a mile to catch up with Michael and I passed him on the way up the ridge. I started to get really hot, so I took off one of my long sleeves and now I was only wearing a short sleeve, long sleeve and my vest on top. About half way up I unzipped the vest. This was one of the longest parts of the day for me because I was by myself and didn't have my ipod on, so the time seemed to drag a bit. I was still feeling really good and didn't have any soreness at all. My legs felt great. I never did quite catch up to Judy and Matt and they reached the summit a few minutes before me (1:06) with Michael a few minutes after me. I took a gel and we took another group photo and didn't stay on top very long. We went as quick as we could given the conditions and the trail was slowly getting more packed in, which made things a bit easier. The sun was now out and I was really warming up on the descent. We got back to the cars and took another break. I took off my vest, took a gel and ate more snacks. I also drank quite a lot of Gatorade and took an S-cap. Michael and Judy left first with Matt and I about 5 minutes behind.

Summit #3: This was the most difficult climb of the day for both Matt and me. It was now hot. Well, the temperature was still below freezing, but with the sun out and reflecting off of the snow, I was hot. I shed one of my long sleeve shirts and now I was only wearing one short and one long sleeve shirt with the sleeves pulled up. It was a total slog. My legs started to get tired, I was sweating a lot and we both slowed down. Luckily we talked the whole way up which made it somewhat bearable, but both of us had doubts about making it up five times. Judy and Michael were on the summit waiting for us and I arrived a few minutes before Matt, as he really slowed down on the final push. Total time up was 1:15. We took a group photo, I took another gel chased by a snowball and we headed down. I felt a lot better on the way down and got my energy back. Back at the car I took more salt, drank more Gatorade and ate two boiled eggs, a gel and a candy bar. I was feeling a lot better. This time Judy Matt and Michael all left about 5 minutes before I did, as I was taking my time eating to make sure I got back my energy.

Summit #4: It took me a mile to catch up to Matt, but he was listening to his ipod. I was kind of hoping we could chat, but I didn't want to bother him. He was singing out loud and using his trekking pole as a guitar. I was feeling much better on this climb and I finally passed him on the final push to the top. Judy and Michael were several minutes ahead, and I was surprised when I reached the top and found out I had made it one minute faster than they had (1:18). We were all pretty tired at this point and Judy and Michael told me they were not going for a 5th summit. I was sure that I would keep going because I still felt really strong and when Mat got to the summit he told me he had no plans on stopping now. We took our final group photo of the day and after I had a gel we headed down. It had cooled off a little bit on the way down and I knew that the last trip up would be colder. My feet were starting to hurt and my boots felt very heavy, so I decided I was going to change into my Brooks Cascadia's even if they made my feet wet. The last mile was the first time all day I started to hurt. At the bottom we decided to take a long break to eat and hydrate. I made a sandwich, drank more Gatorade and I had to get into the car and turn the heat on because I couldn't get my gaitors off. The strap was frozen solid, so I had to thaw it out. I hadn't felt cold in such a long time and it seemed weird, but this was a reminder that it was still below freezing out there. After about 10 minutes I was able to get my boots off and they were HEAVY! They had started soaking up water and they were bricks. I couldn't believe I had been hauling them up that mountain. The Cascadia's were pure heaven on my feet.

Summit #5: This was the best I had felt since summit climb number one. My feet were feeling so good, my energy was great and I wasn't hurting anywhere. I couldn't believe how good I felt and I pushed the pace a bit. Matt kept up and we had fun talking and joking all the way up. The sun started to go down and the temperature dropped a lot. I still wasn't feeling cold, but if we had stopped for more than a minute we would have felt it. This was definitely the most fun I had all day. I thought for sure I would be dragging and hurting on that final climb, but I felt as good as I had all day. The trail was now packed in and my feet stayed dry and were warm all the way up. I got to the summit a few minutes before Matt and took in the incredible views as the sun had just set. It was awesome and I still felt great. My Garmin died on that final summit, so I didn't get exact miles for the day, but it was somewhere around 20. I actually felt like I could have done a few more, but I knew that wasn't going to happen on this day. The descent was fun and Matt and I joked and laughed the whole way down. We finally got back to the car at 6:00 pm, almost exactly 11 hours after we started. I couldn't believe how good I felt.

The total elevation gain for the day was between 10,500 - 11,000 feet in 20 miles. With dry conditions this could be done much faster and we would like to try this in the summer to see how many more we can get. This was definitely one of the best adventures of the year, and I also reached my goal of getting 52 peaks for the year, which made it just a bit sweeter.

Here are a few pictures:

2011 goals

2011-02-16T15:03:00.000-08:00

Wow, I haven’t posted anything on this blog since October. I have been getting in some fun training runs, and hitting as many peaks as I can. I just found out that I got into the Wasatch 100, so I really need to amp up my training. I will be doing at least one 30 mile run per month, and climbing 1-2 peaks per week. Right now I have mostly been climbing Lake Mountain, Grandeur Peak and Mount Wire. Not the kind of peaks that are going to make a mountaineer salivate, but they have been perfect for my training because I can get up and down in a few hours and still make it into work on time. I have been able to get in some good elevation gains and miles during the winter, which I think will pay off later in the year. So far for the year I have climbed 12 peaks in 7 weeks.

Last year I had a goal to climb 52 peaks (one for each week), and I finished the year with 58. I was really happy about that and other than the 50 mile run it was the accomplishment I was most proud of in 2010. I calculated the elevation gain and it was well over 150,000 feet of total elevation, and with all of the runs I did I would guess I had over 200K in elevation gain for the year. I also figured I probably gave up about 7 days of sleep, as most of the peaks required me to get up early. It was definitely worth it though. I think I had my best fitness year ever by far. I ended up running over a marathon distance 7 times, and completed 3 ultra marathon distances and I have even bigger plans for 2011.

My goals for 2011 are to first and foremost complete the Wasatch 100. Everything else that I do will be to get ready for that race. Here is a list of my goals:

-Finish the Wasatch 100
-Complete one road marathon
-Complete a half marathon in 1:35
-climb 65 peaks
-Run Gannett Peak in a day
-Do a Kings Peak double
-Do a Timpanogos double
-Grand Canyon R2R2R

Pony Express 50 mile ultra marathon

2010-11-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

Wow! What an experience. What a fun race. I completed my first official ultra marathon yesterday running the Pony Express 50. This has been a really fun year so far with a lot of fun crazy adventures and this was probably the best one so far. I had to wake up at 3:30 AM and I only got 3 hours of sleep, but when I woke up I was feeling really good. Two of my best friends, Rob and Greg would be crewing me and then met me at 4:00 at my house and we were on our way. On the drive out I went over my expectations for the race and what I thought I would need from them to reach my goals. They both seemed really excited and it was a lot of fun having them both there with me. Greg was at one time a top 10 runner in high school, while Rob has never really been all that interested in sports or athletic pursuits, but both of them were pumped, which was cool.

We arrived at Lookout Pass about 30 minutes before the race started. This gave me a little bit of time to make final preparations, go over all of my food and hydration needs with my crew and check in and get ready. I started to get a little nervous because you just don’t know how your body is going to respond going further than you ever have before. I thought I was ready and had trained well all year, but you just never know. Luckily I was with two of my my best friends and they were able to lighten the moment a lot. Actually, they made me laugh all day long which really helped.

A few minutes before the start Davy had some words for us and then we were off. There was a woman that went out really fast, and then me, and then the rest of the group seemed to be lagging back a bit. I really didn’t get a chance to meet any of the other runners and I had hoped to meet some on the course, but I was quickly pulling away from most of the pack. It didn’t seem like I was running fast at all and when I checked my pace I was at an 8:30 and I felt totally fine, so I went with it. My original plan had been to run about a 9:00 pace for at least the first 25. After the first mile the woman had opened up a lead on me and I couldn’t even see anyone behind. I was running alone in the dark with a smile on my face. The stars were stunning and I saw a few falling stars. The temperature was cold, but it actually felt really good for running and I didn’t need a warm hat or gloves, although I had on a long sleeved shirt. I told my crew to meet me at mile 3 just in case I felt like I wanted something, and at 2.7 I hadn’t seen them pass me yet, so I was getting a little worried that I would miss them, but they soon arrived and I was feeling so good that I told them to go ahead to mile 4 and to have a gel and some water ready for me.

Probably one of the most annoying things that happened the whole day were two cars that passed us very early on going probably 50 miles per hour. One was a large truck that kicked up so much dust I had to cover my mouth and nose for about a minute. I was really angry at the lack of consideration of these drivers and there may or may not have been a few choice words from my end.

At mile 4 I had my first stop at the car. Actually I didn’t really slop, but grabbed a gel and some water and quickly downed them on my way. They told me that the woman was about 3 minutes ahead of me and I have to admit I wanted to catch her. The guys were really fast getting me what I needed and I have to say that they were phenomenal throughout the race. I could not have had a better crew. Not only did they take care of me and do everything that I asked, but they would jump out of the car every time they saw me and run up and ask what I needed before I got to the car. I told them I would meet them at mile 7 and I was off.

The next 3 miles were really fun. I felt solid and I just listened to the music, looked at the stars and ran. Incredible. I still couldn’t see anyone behind me, so I knew that I would probably not see the other runners for a long time if ever. At mile 7 I actually took another gel and had more water and Rob told me that I was exactly 50 seconds behind the girl. I kind of laughed because he was really getting into it and I reminded him that we still had 43 miles to go and I told them to meet me at mile 10.

The sun was now starting to come up and I could now see the woman that I had been chasing. I was slowly gaining on her and my competitive juices were tempted to push and pass her, but I just held back knowing that I needed to save my legs for later in the race. Just before mile 10 I was right on her heels and both of our crew cars were parked very close to each other. We both stopped for a quick break, and as soon as we started running again I caught her. Her name was Nanette and we talked and ran together for the next 6 miles. This was also her first official ultra, so we talked about our training and what we had done over the summer to get ready and she is a really nice person and it was fun to be running with someone. It sure made the time fly by. She was being crewed by her husband and for the rest of the race he would continue to check on me every time he passed. They were amazing people.

Nanette and I chatted until mile 13 where my crew was waiting for me with a gel and some Cytomax, so I walked while I took them and she kept running. It took me about 5 minutes to catch back up, but eventually we were running together all the way to Simpson Springs. Nanette and I passed 3 of the 100 milers that had started an hour earlier than we had and I was sure that they were just holding back to conserve their energy and legs, but it was still cool to be passing runners that started an hour before we did.

There was a pretty good hill leading up to the springs, and I felt strong the whole way and we never had to stop and walk. At the springs they took our number and Nanette stopped to make some gear adjustments, and I wouldn’t see her again for over 15 miles. I was now leading the pack of the 6:00 AM starters, although I never thought I would win the race because Davy told Jun that some really fast experienced runners were starting at 8:00.

The next several miles were much harder running alone. I continued to pass the 100 mile runners, but I didn’t usually chat with them long. The road was now really flat with a long straight away. I could now see several of the 100 milers and I made it a goal to pass as many of them as I could. Over the next 10 miles I counted 7 more of them that I had passed. I was still feeling really strong, but the sun was now up and it was getting really hot. I had been taking at least one salt pill every hour and now I increased the amounts of fluid that I was drinking as well. I would alternate between Gatorade and water and taking Cytomax every two hours. I was also taking a gel about every 2-3 miles to make sure I was getting enough energy. So far I was feeling really good.

I hit my marathon in 4:34 just as I passed a bloody dead rabbit on the road. The heat was bothering me a little, so at my next crew stop I changed from my black tank to my white one and Greg also put sunscreen on me while I drank some Gatorade. I ate some potato chips and two cookies and I was feeling pretty good. I was wondering when I would see Jun and I was hoping that we would catch me so we could run together, but I hadn’t seen his crew car, so I knew he was still several miles behind.

Miles 28-35 were pretty tough for me. I was feeling really good, but my joints started to hurt and the heat was making it more difficult to want to push. I kept catching myself falling off of my pace and every time it was more difficult to pick it back up. This part of the race was a real grind and it would have really helped to be running with someone as the miles were dragging on a bit. I did get passed by Davy during this section and he was looking strong. We chatted for a few minutes and I actually picked up my pace, but I couldn’t keep up with him and he quickly moved ahead. About 30 minutes later two other guys that started with Jun passed me and I asked about him. They said that they though he was having some issues, so I started to worry about him, but when I went off into the brush for a bathroom stop a few minutes later I finally saw his crew car for the first time, so I knew he wasn’t far behind.

Heading up to Dugway Pass is by far the most challenging part of the course. It is very steep and I found myself hiking for the first time all day. I could have run it, but I could hike it as fast as I would have been able to run, so I decided to give my legs a little break. While heading up the pass I finally saw Jun making his way up from behind. It was great to see him and we talked and joked the rest of the way up to the pass where we both started running at a really good pace. This might have been the most enjoyable part of the race for me. We were over 37 miles and the extra boost from seeing my friend really helped so much. We were actually running pretty fast and passed several runners on the way down and they all commented on how strong we looked. I kept sending my crew ahead because I didn’t want to break our stride, but at mile 43ish I finally had to stop to get a drink and my legs were getting really tight when I stopped, so I had Greg rub them out and after I got back on the road Jun was too far ahead for me to catch. It was a little demoralizing, but I wouldn’t have wanted him to stop. He was looking strong and I wanted him to keep pushing while he was feeling so good. I was hopeful that I could have kept up with him and pushed all the way to the finish, but I just wasn’t strong enough. It did help me so much having him there for those 5-6 miles. I was definitely running faster and stronger while we ran together.

Miles 43-47 were definitely the most difficult of the entire race. It was now very hot, my legs were screaming and pushing any kind of pace resembling quick was out of the question. My crew was stopping every mile for me and I was taking them. I would wash off my face, drink and take gels as the thought of solid food made me want to throw up. I just remember grinding and thinking that I wanted to finish strong, even though my body was telling me otherwise. At mile 46 I sat down for the first time and Rob and Greg both asked me if I was alright. I was fine, but I just finally got tired. The heat was a beast. I also noticed that someone was gaining on me and I thought it was Nanette. It put a smile on my face because the last time I saw her around mile 33 she was really hurting. I was really pulling for her to push hard, but at the same time it motivated me to push harder too. Her husband pulled up next to me and offered me some grapes and I thought I could get them down so I accepted and they tasted so good! It was a real boost.

At mile 47 I had one of the best surprises of the day. Greg hopped out of the car in full running attire and announced he was going to run in with me. I was really excited and hoped that he would make it with me. He hadn’t exercised at all since our trip to Ibapah Peak that was over a year ago. Ironically, we were now in the shadow of Ibapah and I pointed it out to him, as we could see the peak ahead. I told him to just tell me some funny stories to take my mind off of the pain and it worked. The stories really aren't blog appropriate, but they sure took my mind of of things. My pace picked up and the last 3 were actually much easier than the previous 5 had been. We were now running a sub 10 minute mile pace. It was so fun and helpful to have Greg running in with me.

Even though I knew we had to pass the finish and go a half mile and then turn around, I still wasn’t prepared for the demoralizing feeling. That was by far the most difficult thing for me and I thought about Davy maybe doing that as one last mental hurdle to get over before you get your 50. The last few hundred yards were tough. I was spent and happy I wasn’t doing more miles on this day, although looking back I think I could have pushed it further. When I reached the finish I was elated. I had done it. This was one of my goals for the year and there were certainly times that I doubted myself, but I did it. I hurt everywhere, but it was worth it. I didn’t feel much like eating for a few hours after, so I didn’t get to enjoy the burgers at the finish, but that was ok. Getting the finishers medal was sweet enough. So my first official ultra is in the books and I loved it. I learned so many things about myself on this day and I can’t wait to get back out there and do it again. Also, congrats to Jun and Davy for rocking the 100 and inspiring me for my next big running challenge.

Pony Express 50 pictures

2010-11-09T12:19:00.000-08:00

St. George Marathon 10/2/2010

2010-10-06T10:09:00.000-07:00

So here is the long version of my race. Now that I have had a few days to analyze it, it seems quite normal that if you put 5,000+ people together to run 26.2 miles in some heat you are going to see some gross things, and probably some of them pretty grizzly. I’ll just say that as far as grossness goes, I saw it all and felt some of it too: Farmer blows, spit in every nasty form imaginable, pee, lots of pee without regard to the viewing audience. Puke and sweat. Enough sweat to even make Burt proud. I saw worse, but there might be kids reading this, but I digress…

I arrived in St. George kind of late, and ended up only getting 2.5 hours of sleep, but when I woke up I was actually feeling really good. I was meeting some friends at the Crystal Inn at 4:45, so I ate breakfast, got ready and met up with them in time to catch the bus up to the start. Most of the guys I was with had done this race several times, so they were giving me low down on the course and what to expect and it actually made me a little nervous. When we arrived at the start I went on my own because my friends were all in the elite corral, so I headed over to the looong line at the POP and waited for about 45 minutes for my turn. I should have just found a bush, but what else was I going to do? After my less than one minute stop in the POP it was almost time to start, so I adjusted my gear and took some Cytomax and headed over to the HUGE wall of people waiting to go. I never heard a gun go off, but I heard a loud cheer and then everyone started walking and within about 30 seconds we could jog, although it was really crowded.

The first 7 miles were incredibly fun and I really enjoyed almost everything about them. It wasn’t too hot yet and I was feeling strong. My pace was between 7:20-7:40 for the first 7 miles and I didn’t feel tired at all. I was really starting to think I could have a really good time if I could keep this up and then we hit Veyo and the hill was a bit harder than I thought it would be. My pace slowed a lot busting up that thing and it was tough to keep up a good pace. I decided to take my first gel and at the next aid station I had a gel and a Gatorade. I had to stop to drink it as I walked and I noticed it was a bit tougher getting into my groove starting back up.

About mile 9 I started to feel a hot spot on both of my big toes. I was a little worried that I would get a blister, so I decided to stop for some Vaseline, but I would wait as long as I thought I could. I also noticed I had to pee, so at the next aid station I found what I thought was an open POP. Well, it was open, but to my surprise I was half way in with my pants half way down when I realized there was a guy in there sitting on the toilet. It wasn’t pretty at all let me tell you. The hair, the pasty whiteness, the UGH!!! Ummm lock the door. It was one of those awkward life moments that will forever be seared into my brain. So I quickly jumped out and found another one that was open. I made sure to lock the door. On my way out I grabbed more Gatorade and from that point on I was drinking two cups of Gatorade or water the rest of the way. It was starting to get hot.
I was still feeling really good when I hit mile 13, but I decided to stop to take care of the hot spots, so at the aid station I took a few minutes to rub Vaseline on both toes and I also noticed a big blister forming on one of my other toes, so I took care of that one too. I hated stopping, but if I hadn’t it could have been much worse later in the race. I also had another gel, an S-Cap and some more Gatorade and then took off. I hit my half marathon at 1:45 and I was happy with my time up to that point and hoped I could keep it up.

14-17 I really noticed the heat more. I was sweating a lot and even though I felt pretty good I was slowing down. My pace gradually slowed. There were a few hills to deal with but the one that was really difficult for me was the hill around mile 18. Combined with the heat it was tough. I never stopped to walk once during the race except to grab water, but I was really tempted to at this point. Several runners were walking, but it motivated me to keep pushing.

The rest of the race was just hard. It was hot and now my hamstrings were starting to cramp up. It made every step hurt, but I could still run. I was really looking forward to the downhill at the end of the race, but I couldn’t push it as hard as I would have liked. I saw a lot of people struggling. Some dry heaving, a few that had collapsed and I was thankful that I was at least moving along.
Once we got out of the canyon there were crowds of people there to cheer us on. Normally this gives me a big boost and I can pick up the pace, but not today. It was just hard. The last 3 miles might have been the most difficult I have ever run. My hamstrings were now screaming and my energy was depleted. I tried to push it and at times I could, but it wasn’t what I had hoped for. Somehow when I saw the balloons at the finish I was able to find a boost and I actually picked up my pace considerably and passed several people at the end. My Garmin said I had run 26.3 miles. I got my finishers medal and instantly felt sick. My hammies were cramping bad and I had to go lay down for about 20 minutes. It was torture because I wanted a drink so bad, but couldn’t stand in the line. There was a really nice guy that had two cups of water and offered me one. I felt a little better, but it took about 30 minutes to start feeling good again.

This race was so much fun. It was incredible. Even though it was really hard, I learned a lot and enjoyed almost every minute… well, except for the last hour. I didn’t enjoy that much, but I love putting my body in those types of situations to see how I can respond and I learned a lot. I will definitely be back to do it again. Next time I know I can shave off quite a lot of time, so I am excited for that.

Running Timpanogos

2010-10-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

I had an awesome morning running Timp with Jun. I love this run. It has to be one of the best trail runs along the Wasatch Front, and I really wanted to get a peak in with some elevation, so I was glad Jun also wanted to do it again. We had to get an early start so that I could get home to get my kids to school, so we met at 2:30 AM at Kohlers in Apline.
We were on the trail before 3:00 and our splits were almost identical to the last time we did it, even though I felt like I was pushing harder. Maybe it was because my calves were a touch sore. They didn't feel sore before the run, but I really felt them on the steep trail going up.
The weather was nearly perfect and I wasn't sweating much at all and it was just an enjoyable pace up to the saddle. The only negative was I felt like I was going to throw up for the first 90 minutes. I ate more breakfast than I usually do, and the boiled egg really wanted to come back up, but I faught the puking urge and luckily after I took a Hammer gel I felt better.
We got blasted by wind at the saddle and it was much colder up there, so I put on my extra shirt and gloves and Jun took off fast. It took me about 25 minutes to reach the summit and it was in the exact time as our last trip (2:20). We hung out a bit on top, taking some pics and checking out the views, but we got cold, so we decided to get down quick. Once again Jun was fast to the saddle and I tried to make good time, but I took it easier on all of the steeper sections.
From the saddle down to the cirque was kind of slower, but once we got down there I took a gel (Hammer espresso, not my fav but I wanted the caffeine) and I took off one of my shirts and then we ran down the rest of the way. I was much faster this time and took 15 minutes off of my descent.
Once the sun came up the views were just incredible with all of the Fall colors out and we got back to the car in just over 4 hours total time. It was an incredible morning and worth the lack of sleep.

Gannett Peak in a day pics

2010-10-06T09:52:00.000-07:00

September

2010-10-06T09:08:00.000-07:00

I had a really fun month in September. I got out for some great trail runs and then I started training for the St. George Marathon. I felt like I was in pretty good shape, but road marathon shape does not equal pretty good shape, so the last 3 weeks of september I ran quite a lot on pavement and tried to increase my speed.

I also ran to the summit of Timpanogos twice in the middle of the night with Craig and we had an amazing time. I'll post up the trip reports. I will also post up some pics from my Gannett Peak and Quest for Kings marathon.

2010-08-31T08:11:00.000-07:00

On 8/21/2010 I ran in the Quest for Kings marathon. This is a race started by my friend Craig lloyd and it would be the second time this summer that I attempted to run to the summit and back (car to car) in one day. Here is my trip report:

I had a really fun day running in the second annual Quest for Kings Marathon. The distance of the race is the same as a typical marathon, but the route to the top isn't even close to typical. The object of the race is basically getting to the summit of Kings Peak (Utah's highest point) and back as fast as you can, regardless of the route taken. There were 4 of us running in this race and I knew there wasn't much of a chance of winning, but my main goal was to get a personal PR for the course, and have a great time in the process.

This would be my eighth time to the summit. The first 4 times I climbed it on multi-day backpacking trips. In 2008 Jun and another friend and I did it for the first time in a day and we thought we were pretty cool, but our time was almost 14 hours. We didn't run at all, but we hiked pretty fast the whole way. In 2009 I did it again and shaved about 30 minutes off of our 2008 time by hiking a little faster. Last month was the first time I have ever tried to run to the top and my time was 10:40. I knew I could run it faster, but I was having some knee pain on the way down so I didn't push it. My goal for the day would be 8 hours. I knew it would be tough, but if things went well I knew it was doable.

I arrived much later than I had planned to the trailhead and I didn't get to sleep until about 2:30 am. With a 6:00 am start time I figured I would get a few hours of sleep. I woke up at 5:30 and I didn't see any signs of life in Jun's camp, so I went over there to make sure they hadn't left. He said they were going to leave a little later, so I went back to my car to get ready. I was listening to some nut job on AM radio while I ate a banana and a boiled egg and then I forced down a Powerbar gel for the 2X caffeine. I finally got ready by 6:30 and went over to see that Jun and Aaron were just waking up. We chatted for a few minutes and then I rang the cowbell and I was off.

I started running right from the start and everything was feeling good. I had plenty of energy and I got into a really good groove. My goal was to beat the other two guys to Elk Horn Crossing (5.3 miles). They looked like they would be about 10 minutes behind me and I knew they would be faster than I was, but it gave me something to push myself. I also wanted to shave time off of my run from last month and I hit Elk Horn at 1:05, which was 15 minutes faster. I was really happy about that and the other guys hadn't caught me yet. Instead of stopping for a break like I usually do at Elk Horn, I got a gel an S-Cap out of my pack while I walked and ate it on the move. I passed a few hikers while I gulped it down, and then started running again as soon as I was finished.

When I came out into the meadow I saw a few moose off of the trail, so I shot some video and took a few pictures and then kept running. I passed 4 hikers that I saw start at 5:30 and they told me nice job. Running through the meadow I kept looking back, but I didn't see Aaron and Jun. I was still feeling really good and I was definitely moving faster than I had been last month. Around Dollar Lake I finally spotted Jun and Aaron and I kept running instead of waiting for them. I finally stopped after the lake to take some pictured and shoot some video, and they finally caught up to me. I noticed that Jun didn't look like his typical happy self, so I knew something wasn't right. Usually you can't wipe the smile off of his face.

I stayed with the guys until just before Gunsight Pass. We passed several groups of hikers from the lake to the pass. Aaron pushed ahead and I stopped to get water at the spring because I wasn't sure what I would find beyond it. Jun kept going and I didn't see them again until just before the summit. Several of the hikers passed me while I was getting water, so I made a goal of passing all of them on the switchbacks and I passed all but one guy that was going pretty fast. The pass was windy, so I didn't stay long. I passed the fast hiker and two other groups on my way over to the plateau, but while I was scrambling through some boulders I slipped and fell and dropped my water bottle, which rolled off of a cliff and kept going for about 100 feet. I wasn't happy and I had to climb down over some loose boulders to retrieve it. I wasn't happy about that, but quickly got back to where I had fallen and made my way up to the plateau. From this point to Anderson Pass I didn't run much because it is really hard on your knees and legs. There are boulders everywhere and the ground is not very level at all and there isn't a trail. I hiked fast across it though.

Just before Anderson Pass I saw a familiar face. Faceless Ghost was coming down from the summit and it was really good to see him. We chatted for a few minutes and then he headed back down. Even though I didn't spend much time on the trail with the other guys, when I saw them it always lifted my spirits.

I made pretty good time from Anderson Pass to the summit. This section is basically a few million + boulders stacked in a huge pile. I know the route well, and I moved fast scrambling up the boulders to the summit. I passed everyone I saw and about 15 minutes from the top I passed Aaron as he was coming down from the summit. He looked really strong and we chatted for a minute and then he headed down. It was just a few minutes and Jun passed me on the way down as well. He still didn't look like he was enjoying himself and I was worried maybe he was sick. I pushed on to the top and made the summit in 3:50, over an hour faster than my time from last month.

It was so windy on top that my hat nearly blew off into Painter Basin. I tried to take some pictures with my timer, but the wind blew my camera over every time, so I finally just snapped a few shots and went down. I made pretty good time on the way down and didn't stop at all until I reached the pass. There I pulled some food out of my pack and snacked all the way across the plateau.

Back at Gunsight Pass I was still feeling really good, but I needed to make some gear adjustments, so I got into my tank top and put on some sunscreen. I was stopped for about 10 minutes (my longest break of the day) and when I finally got going I was feeling really good. There is some nice downhill trail back to Dollar Lake and I seemed to be making pretty good time, but as soon as I hit the lake and the trail leveled off I lost my energy. It seemed like the run back to Elk Horn from there took forever! I just couldn't find the gear I needed to crank it up. I think it would have helped to be chasing someone or have someone on my tail, but since I was by myself it was tough.

When I finally reached Elk Horn I was at 7:00, so I knew that I would have to push pretty hard to come in under 8:00. I had to stop and purify some water, and for the first mile I was trying to push the pace, but the trail was so annoying with all of the boulders and I never could get into a groove. I found myself hiking a lot more than I had been on the way in and it was tough to make myself run and run fast. With about 3 miles to go I knew I wasn't going to hit my goal of 8 hours, so I set a new goal of finishing in less than 8:30. It kept me going and I even pushed really hard the last mile to hit it. I think the last mile was probably my fastest mile of the day. Everything was feeling really good, but I was just tired. When I finally reached the gate I had just barely made it under 8:30 and I was pretty happy that I had a new PR for the course by over 2 hours.
I know that I can do this faster, but I am not going to worry about that until next year. There are several things that I know I can do better. It was still a fun race and I'll be back every year for it. I was really tired and had a tough time staying awake on the drive home, so I stopped in Wanship and took a two hour nap in a church parking lot.

Congrats to Aaron Kennard who took first place. His time really blows me away. Anyone that has run this course knows how insane that time really is.

Gannett in a day!

2010-08-18T14:19:00.000-07:00

Probably the biggest adventure of the year so far (right up there with Bryce Canyon) was an attempt I made to climb Gannett Peak, wyoming in one day. Gannett is the highest peak in Wyoming and is usually climbed in 4-6 days. A one day attempt is very rare and most would consider it crazy. It would require nearly 24 hours of straight running/hiking and climbing and I think rivals a lot of ultra marathons out there. I was not successful in my attempt to reach the summit, due to energy and altitude issues, but my three friends all made it to the peak and back. I did end up doing 40 miles that day with some serious elevation gain (9K) and most of that at above 10,000 feet. I was awake and on the trail for about 21 out of 26 hours that we were out. Here is my report:

Gannett Peak has always been my favorite mountain, well, at least since I first discovered it around 1997. I first reached the summit in 2001 and I'll never forget the chills that ran down my spine the first time I got a good look at it from Scenic Pass. Intimidated would be an understatement. I have heard of a few people doing Gannett in a day, but I thought they were crazy. The shortest route to the peak is 44 miles round trip and that covers some serious elevation over wicked terrain, and climbing the peak is far from a walk up.

Our group consisted of me, MatthewVH, Joe B. and Jake. All of us have a lot of exeperience in the mountains, and have climbed most of the peaks in the Wasatch. Joe had also climbed Gannett before, but did it in 3 days a few years back. It was a really good group and we all had a lot of fun.

We got a hotel in Pinedale on Friday around 6:00 PM. We hoped to get a few hours of sleep before we left for the trail around midnight. A few of us took some sleep aids to try and catch some Z's, but it was tough. It seemed like someone was constantly getting up to use the bathroom or making some other odd noise, but I did get to share a bed with Matt (a highlight :) ). I finally dozed for what seemed like less than an hour when Matt's alarm went off at 11:20. We all got ready and were at the trailhead at 12:30 AM Saturday morning. It was cold, but I didn't put on a jacket because I knew I would heat up quickly. We signed in and headed up the trail. After a few minutes of hiking Matt started to run and the next 11 miles we ran where we could and hiked pretty fast where it was steep. The conversation was good and there were a lot of laughs.

The trail was pretty wet and there were puddles all over. It was a pain and we really had to focus on the trail. Running was really hard in places because of all of the mud, puddles and rocks. The stars were brilliant and I would catch a glimpse when I could, but we were moving most of the time. We did take a few breaks, but only for a minute or two.
At Seneca Lake (mile 10) we cached some food and drinks for the return trip and we all re-applied deet. So far the bugs were not bad, but we knew they probably would be in a few hours. I will never forget our approach to Island Lake (about mile 12). It was still dark, but the first rays of the sun along with the moonlight were spectacular. We could see the shadows of the rocky spires in Titcomb basin and the lake was really cool. Along the lake there is a beach with nice white sand and we stopped there to take a break.

When we finally reached the lower Titcomb basin (mile 13, 5.5 hours in) the sun was just starting to come up and the views were so incredible that it is hard to describe. They are as good as anything anywhere in the world. I was in awe. I made a few videos and we all took some pictures. There are two really big lakes and a few smaller lakes in the Titcomb basin and we made our way around the lakes, while taking in the views. We finally stopped to take a break at the upper Titcomb lake (mile 17) to refill our water and replace some of our energy because we would be climbing up to Bonny Pass over the next two miles. So far I had been taking a gel every hour and an S-Cap every other and I was feeling really good.

The climb to Bonny Pass (12,700) is over 2K in elevation and you do it in about two miles from the upper lake. I was feeling really good and strong for the first mile and I was leading the pack. The climb up to the pass was horrendous! It is a huge pile of loose, steep rock with an occasional snowfield mixed in. There were so many places where you would take a step up only to slide two steps back. It was frustrating and it was on the upper half of this climb where I lost my energy. I have suffered from altitude sickness many times and I was worried that I was getting it. The desire to move is gone and it takes everything to you have just to put one foot in front of the other. Everyone passed me and pretty soon they were all out of sight. I lost sight of Matt on the upper 1/4 of the climb and I was moving very slow. I started to think that I may be done for the day because I knew that once on top of the pass, I still had at least 6 hours of serious climbing to summit Gannett and get back to the pass, and then I would have to hike out 20 more miles to the car. I knew if I didn't start to get back my energy I would not risk going further.

I finally made it to the pass (mile 19.25) and I felt like I was going to puke. I had zero energy and the guys had been waiting for me for at least 25 minutes and they were freezing up there. I felt really bad that I had made them wait, but I was moving as fast as I could. I think it was the lack of sleep, some exhaustion, combined with the altitude making a terrible cocktail of 'feeling like crap'. I was shooting some video as I got to the top and the battery on my camera died, and things were just not looking good. I told the guys that unless I felt better in a few minutes I was not going to make it. They were too cold to wait and I can't blame them at all. I told them I would sit down and try and eat something if I could. Having climbed Gannett before I knew what it would take to reach the summit and then get all the way back out and it just isn't something a sane person should attempt without feeling really good and having energy. Matt gave me a two-way radio so we could communicate and they were gone, headed down to the glacier 1300 feet below.

I sat down in a wind break (a stack of rocks) and just stared at Gannett for a few minutes. The views from Titcomb are spectacular, but I think they are even better from Bonny Pass. The pictures do not do it justice. Unreal. I actually felt worse and now I was getting really cold too. I couldn't eat anything. I ended up sitting there for 45 minutes. I didn't feel any better and now I was freezing and my feet were getting numb, so I knew I had to get down. I was disappointed, but knew it was the right decision. No question about it.

I descended back down the pass slowly and I made sure of every step. The rocks are just loose everywhere. It was bad. I went down about 1,300 feet and took a nice rest on a rock. My appetite came back, so I pulled out a burrito and some taco sauce and ate it fast. Still hungry I ate another and then downed a peanut butter cup. I felt so much better, but climbing Gannett was now out of the question, so I found a rock and decided I would take a nap. I feel asleep for a few minutes, but woke up because I was soooo cold. At that point I just wanted to get down, so I slowly made my way back down into the basin.

I spent the next few hours talking to some groups heading up, and also some time under a big boulder during a lighting/hail storm that moved through. I caught a small cat nap under the boulder and it kept me nice and dry. I slowly hiked about about 5 miles, taking a lot of breaks to chat with other climbers and take in the views. I spent about an hour talking to a few guys we had met on the trail earlier in the day, and I finally decided to stop and wait at one of the lower lakes. I didn't see the guys again until about 5:00 PM. I was shocked when they came up the trail. They all looked shattered and we still had to hike out another 14 miles. They all made it to the summit and I was happy for them. We didn't talk much at all. In fact, we would go an hour without saying a word. They were all hiking really slow and getting out of there was going to take forever. I was actually feeling really good and fresh until we reached our cache at Seneca Lake. After that I just felt really fatigued. My entire body was just plain tired. Luckily my legs didn't hurt at all, but my back was killing me.

The last 5 miles were HELL. I'm sure the other guys felt a lot worse, but we had been at it for almost 24 hours and my pack that I thought felt light at the start was actually feeling like a ton of bricks. My shoulders and back were just on fire. I really didn't think it would ever end, but at about 1:45 AM we finally reached the trailhead. It was over 25 hours and for the other 3 it had been continuous running/hiking or climbing with very few breaks. We were all worked. Jake wanted to get home, so he drove all the way back to SLC (I am not sure how) and we arrived back at Joe's just after 7:00 AM. I will never forget this day as long as I live. I am now beating myself up for not continuing on to the summit, but I know I made the right call. I'll be back to Gannett again, but I doubt I will ever try it again in a day. To the other 3 guys, congrats. Well done.

Here is a trip report written by Matt and Joe with some really good pics:
http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.php?object_id=649122&type=vote_comments&discussion_id=388805#388805

Here are some videos that I made from the trip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wnjH3N15qU&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFeOahTKt_I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIi-37a2Ens

Big Springs 8K

2010-08-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

One of the most fun races I have done was the Big Springs 8k on July 31st. Here is a race report I wrote:

I had a really fun time running in the Big Springs 8K (Battle at Big Springs) up Provo Canyon yesterday. I had wanted to run in the Gruesome Grizzly as well, but I was still recovering from Bryce Canyon and couldn't make it, but I am glad I didn't miss this one.
I got up there around 7:30 and spent a few minutes getting ready and getting my race packet and I was happy to see fellow FRBer Lily up there. We talked for a bit and it was nice to hang out with someone I knew. I did recognize a lot of people up there, but didn't know a lot of names.
The race was a little late starting, and other than the fact that I had to pee really bad I was feeling pretty good. The first .3 the faster runners separated themselves and and the trail got really steep. I slowed down a lot on the hill and just tired to keep a good pace without burning out. After the initial hill we came into a beautiful meadow and I passed a few runners here, as I picked up my pace.

As soon as we went through the meadow the trail got really steep again and pretty much climbs for the next two miles. I ran most of the hills and I was actually passing some people, so I felt like I was pretty strong, but it was tough. At about mile 2.5 I was really hoping the downhill would come quick because I was really getting tired. The trail flattened out a bit and then there were a few ups and downs before we crossed the stream. I picked off another runner, but I had a guy right on my heels that passed me when I finally had to stop to pee in the bush :)

The last two miles are down hill and I was feeling really good. I was under or around 7:00 almost the whole way and I actually passed a few more guys. One guy passed me going really fast, but with .5 to go he was doubled over and I passed him again. The finish came a little quicker than expected and I just pushed hard at the end. I was shocked that I came in 2nd place in my age group (30-39) and I feel like I could actually run that course a little faster, so I am excited to go back next year to do it again.

Lily was incredible up there. This was only her second trail run and first trail race and she looked like a pro up there. I only saw her at the start and the finish :) Nice work Lily!
This was a great race and they did an excellent job marking the trail and taking care of the runners. They had a raffle and gave out some of the best gear I have seen for a race. It seemed like about half of the peeps got something. I didn't but that is ok. I had a super-duper time anyway.

2010-08-18T14:04:00.000-07:00

Kings Peak Marathon:

In July the most memorable adventure that I had was running to the summit of Kings Peak. I was with craig, while he attempted a speed record for the Triple Crown (highest three peaks in the state), car to car. It was my 7th time to the summit of Kings and I set a personal best time by reaching the top in 4:50, which I was very happy about. My previous PR was 6:30. I did have some minor knee pain, so I did take it easier on the descent, so my total time was 10:40:29, which is good, but I can do better. Here is a trip report that I wrote:

This would be my 7th trip to the summit Kings Peak, which is the highest point in Utah (13,528 feet). It never gets old. I met Jun at his place on Wed at 9:00 PM and after picking up a few snacks from the 7-11 we were off on the close to 3 hour drive to the trailhead. It was fun talking about peaks, runs, and what our strategies would be on our runs in the morning. Jun was going for the Triple Crown (Highest 3 peaks in Utah) and he wanted to set a speed record for getting all three in one day car to car with no camps in between. I really wanted to do the Triple this year, but I knew with my knee issues of late it would not be smart. I also knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with Jun, so even if I wanted to grind through it I wouldn't want him to have to wait several hours for me at the finish.

It was cool at the trailhead, but not as cold as it had been the two previous years. We set up the tent, got our gear ready, and then settled in for a restless 3.5 hours of sleep. I fell asleep pretty fast, but I woke up at about 3:30 to use the bathroom and I never could get back into a good sleep. The alarm went off at 4:30 and I felt pretty good considering the lack of rest.
Jun cooked up some oatmeal that really hit the spot and we got our gear together and we were ready to hit the trail just after 5:00 AM. The temperature was almost perfect. It was cool, but not cold. We settled in to a nice running pace and chatted for the first few miles as we ran. I knew Jun was going for speed, so it wasn't long before he got too far ahead and I wouldn't see him again for about 5 hours.

The run to Elk Horn Crossing was so nice. The temps were good, and I felt great, but my ITB started to get tight between miles 3-4, so I had to take it easy. I would not run any of the steeper sections, so I was alternating between a nice easy running pace and a power hike, depending on the trail. I reached Elk Horn crossing (5.3 miles) in 1:20, which was 35 minutes faster than my previous best time. I took a short break, had a gel and put on my iPod.
The next 3 miles I again alternated from fast hiking to easy running and the views were just impressive. Towering 13, 000 ft. peaks, wild flowers and everything was very green. I really enjoyed this section. I would stop about every half mile to stretch my ITB and take in the views. Once I got to Dollar Lake (about mile 8) I was expecting to start seeing groups of people making their way to the summit because most people that climb Kings use the area for their base camp. I didn't see anyone at all. After about a mile I did see a couple of groups far ahead almost to the Gunsight Pass switchbacks, and my next goal was to pass them. I picked up my pace and ran most of the way to the base of the switchbacks

Just before the switchbacks I stopped to fill up my water bottles in a spring where we normally stop. I used iodine tablets with all of my water to make sure it was purified. After a quick stop I turned my attention to passing the two groups ahead of me. It turns out it was two scout troops, and within 10 minutes I had passed both groups on the switchbacks. They were moving s l o w and they couldn't believe I was running past them. I heard one guy mumble an Oh my Gosh. I am not very fast for a runner, but compared to most arm-chair hikers my pace actually looks quick.

I noticed one solo hiker left to pass, so I pushed to pass him and get up to Gunsight Pass. He kept looking back at me and then started to speed up, so I didn't quite catch him, but we both arrived at Gunsight within seconds of each other. I stopped to take a gel, while he headed down into Painter Basin. It was very windy up there, so I didn't stay long. I started my traverse over to the Gunsight plateau and I noticed that the guy had dropped way down into the basin and now he kept looking back up at me and where I was going. I think he was second guessing his route, because I saw him turn around, but I never did see him again, until I was on my way down from the summit.

The traverse across the plateau is very rocky and lumpy and not easy to run on at all, so I just kept a fast hiking pace. I didn't see anyone in front of me at all. Just before Anderson Pass I did see some hikers that looked totally confused and they came over to talk to me, asking where Kings Peak was. I pointed up to the ridge and the guy just didn't want to believe me. I spent about 5 minutes telling him right where to go and showing him the way, and finally he said "We will just follow you." They had come from the next basin over and had never been in the area before. There was another guy and his 12 year old son that followed us as well.

After about 15 minutes all of the hikers were lagging way behind, but the 12 year old kid stayed with me all the way to the top. I started chatting with him about hiking and mountains and then I asked him how he was in such good shape and he told me he is a runner and runs 5K's. I found out his PR is 20:04 and I told him he was going to be a great runner and to keep it up. It was fun and I shattered my previous PR to the summit, reaching the top in 4:50. I was the first person on the summit for the day, and I had started 8 miles further than all of the Dollar Lake folks. I started to feel fast (I know I am not).

I was seriously debating a trip over to South Kings. I felt really strong, but after hanging out on the summit I started to feel nauseated, which happens every time, so I decided to go back down. On the descent I passed several parties going up and I had a few comments like "You're fast" and "You look like this didn't even faze you." Haha. Again, I know I am not fast. Most of these were scouts and their leaders. I ran into Jun after about 20 minutes and he was kind of in a bad mood. He was tired, but he was making great time. We chatted for a few minutes and then he took off for the top.

I had been feeling really good (other than my knee being tight) the whole day, but the descent from the summit was murder on my knee. It started to hurt. I couldn't push off or land on it hard or it would hurt, so I had to really slow down because going down is just one massive pile of boulders. I was so slow. When I finally got down to the trail I took about a 25 minute break to eat some solid food. So far it had only been gels. I felt really refreshed, but the traverse back over to Gunsight Pass was very slow as I was now being very tentative with my knee and I was much slower than the way up.

I found a spring and filled up my bottles and took another short break, and then I finally saw someone coming up behind me. I couldn't tell if it was Jun, but I figured if it was he was flying. I was really slow coming back, but I was way ahead of him when we passed each other. Once I reached the pass I picked up my pace a lot. It felt so good to be back onto the trail and my knee felt much better. I made pretty good time going down and just before I reached the bottom I saw Jun taking a short cut to avoid the switchbacks. He had passed me and I didn't even know it. He was only about a minute ahead of me, so we both stopped to take a break to put on sunscreen and make some gear adjustments.

We ran together for about 10 minutes, but he passed me and slowly built up a huge lead. After about 10 more minutes I couldn't see him anymore. He still looked pretty fresh and had an excellent pace going. My body felt relatively good, but I was losing steam. The elevation really works you and I was feeling it. Most of the route is above 10,000 feet and you can definitely feel it. It is much harder to get a fast pace going up there. I alternated from running to hiking all the way back to Elk Horn crossing, passing several people that were shocked to see someone running up there. The people I talked to all asked where I came from and what I did and seemed surprised.

At Elk Horn (mile 21) I stopped to fill up my water bottles and have a gel. The bridge that is normally there has been washed out, so you have to cross the river on wet logs. It is easy, but I guarantee a few boy scouts will take a swim crossing it this year. From Elk Horn back to the trailhead always seems really long. I alternated between running and hiking the rest of the way. When the trail was in good shape I ran, if there were a lot of rocks, boulders or hills I hiked. My knee actually started to feel better, but my energy levels were gone. I was hammered.
Jun was waiting for me at the finish and it felt really good to be done. My mileage was exaclty 26.2, which is pretty cool. I finished in 10:40, which is about 3 hours faster than my time from last year. It isn't earth shattering, but I am happy with it. I think I could have easily shaved about an hour off if my knee hadn't been giving me trouble on the descent. It actually took me almost an hour more to come down than it did going up, and believe me it is much easier going down.

The new Brooks Cascadias were soooo good! My feet felt great the whole day and the shoes take a pounding quite well. After all of the rocks, boulders and scree I was expecting them to be more beat up than they were.
We had an amazing time and Jun set a speed record for the Triple Crown. He was fast and strong and it was fun having a front row seat to watch him go. Even though this hike/run/climb has become waaay too crowded I love it. I will be back every year

To see a video of our day go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnWiujAVmoU&feature=player_embedded

Also, the Deseret News did a story on Craig's Triple Crown and they also talked about my Kings marathon. You can see the story here:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700055904/Runner-tackles-mountainous-triple-crown.html

2010-08-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from the Crest. One of my favorite trails to run is the Wasatch Crest Trail, which runs the crest between Salt Lake and Summit counties, going from Big Cottonwood to Millcreek Canyon. Last year we ran it several times. In July I got up there once and I plan on doing it again tomorrow. We took a detour to climb Desolation peak and had such a fun morning. It is 10 miles of some of the best scenery in the Wasatch. We saw a huge buck, and a mama moose with her babes right on the trail.

2010-08-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

At the end of June I went with my family to San Diego for the week. We had an amazing time together and saw some incredible things. We went to the San Diego Zoo twice, Sea World and the Wild Animal Park. The kids had a lot of FUN and they were really good for the most part. We also went to the beach twice (Mission Beach) and everyone really enjoyed it. We made sand castles, the kids spent hours gathering shells and chasing sand crabs, and I had each of the kids out on the boogie board for a lesson. While I was out there riding some waves I had a huge smile on my face, thinking about all of the cool experiences that I have been able to have this month. I was thinking that just a few weeks prior I had been climbing up the steep Grunge Couloir, a place that very few people ever get to see, then a few weeks after that I was seeing all of Bryce canyon on foot, and then there I was riding waves in the Pacific Ocean just a few weeks later. What a life! I love it.

2010-08-18T10:45:00.000-07:00

On June 23rd I had one of the most epic adventures of the year so far. Craig and I ran from one end of Bryce Canyon National Park to the other, linking up 3 major trails in the park (37.5 total miles). We do not know of anyone else that has done this yet, and it was probably the hardest thing I have ever done physically in my life to that point. Here is a trip report:

I will vividly remember yesterday for the rest of my life. Some of the memories will he horrific, while others will make me smile and laugh. I ran my first ultra distance yesterday with Jun in Bryce Canyon National Park. This was an insane idea that Jun had to link up the 3 main trails in the park, which would basically be running from one end of the park to the other. It sounded like an amazing run, and when he first told me about it I was definitely intrigued, although I didn't think I would want to run the whole thing, but after talking more with him about it I really got excited and decided to go for it. Why not?

We traveled down to Panguitch to stay with some of Jun's firends. They were really nice and we spent a few hours hanging out with them and then getting ready for our run. We got the tour of the town, had a lot of laughs and ended with a huge piece of chocolate cake before bed. We got to bed late and I had a hard time sleeping. I finally nodded off about 12:30, but woke up at 3:30 and couldn't get back to sleep until I heard Jun's alarm at 4:30. We got our stuff ready and then Jun's friend drove us to drop off my car at Fairyland Point where we would finish, and then took us all the way to the other end of the park and dropped us off at Rainbow Point. After a few pictures we were off on the Rigg's Spring Loop.

That first loop was just magical. The air was cool, but not cold and the views entering the canyon were stunning. My body was feeling really good and I was excited for this run. The first 5 miles were just a lot of fun. The sun wasn't on us yet and we were running on a beautiful trail surrounded by pine trees with an occasional glimpse of the red rock canyon above. The views got better and better (with a few exceptions) with each step.

Jun was in the lead and had a little bit quicker pace than I did, but when I reached Yovimpa pass I had to stop to take in the views. Wow! Jun was ahead of me nearly the entire run, and he was nice enough to stop and wait for me to catch up. The first few miles of the loop we descended about 1500 feet into the canyon and then we promptly started to gain all of that elevation back before we hit the under the rim trail. This would be the theme for the rest of the day. Climb a steep hill, descend and then do it all over again. I was expecting some elevation gain and loss, but nothing like what we experienced. It was relentless.

About mile 8 I started to feel some tightness in my right knee (ITB). I was worried, but it wasn't hurting yet, so I was still hoping the pain wouldn't get too bad for a while. I actually pushed the pace on some downhill for about a mile and everything was feeling good, but as soon as we started to ascend again, it was hurting. By mile 10 going up or downhill would make my knee hurt. From this point on I had to hike up all of the uphill sections and running up them was just too painful. This is not the place you want to be with ITB pain. It is just not flat at all.
Around mile 11 we finally stopped for our first real break of the day to refill our water at a spring. We treated all of the water we drank with iodine. We used a neutralizer to take away the gross taste, but by the end of the hike I was actually getting used to it. I added some Nuun to my water bottle and then had a gel. Other than my knee I was feeling really good. Jun got ahead of me again on the next section and I didn't see him again for a few miles. There were a lot of downed trees covering the trail and it was pretty clear this area doesn't see a lot of foot traffic. The views were not as good, but I was thankful for the shade. Jun had been waiting for me and I finally caught up to him, and after stopping and taking another gel, I didn't see him again for a few hours.

The next 4-5 miles were really hard for me. My knee was hurting, and each hill that I had to climb and descend added to my misery. Thoughts of bailing early came into my head, but I quickly dismissed them. As long as the pain stayed the same I could make it. I was hiking all of the uphills, and running with a limp on the downhills. I could still run when it was flat, but it just wasn't all that flat. Compounding the difficulty is the beach sand that seemed to be strategically placed by a sadist on all of the uphill climbs. Tough!

At about mile 17 I really hit a low point. I was hot, tired, my Camelbak was bugging my shoulders, my knee hurt and I was alone. The views were impressive, but I was stopping less and less to enjoy them. I just told myself to keep grinding and it would get better. There was a really big hill before Swamp Canyon and at the top the views were just out of this world cool. I stopped to shoot some video and then I ran into jun at Swamp Canyon, which was around the next switchback. I hadn't seen him for about 5 miles and a few hours. He had been waiting there for a while, and seeing him boosted my spirits a lot. I filled up on water, had a gel and Jun gave me an S-cap. Jun stayed with me for about the next 8-9 miles, although he would get ahead of me and then have to wait for me to catch up. I am glad he did. We only saw a few other people on the entire trail and it is remote, rugged, and your mind starts messing with you when you're by yourself. Having him there with me during those breaks really helped a lot. Hills, hills, and more hills. Talk about demoralizing. If you have any hint of ITB pain this trail is a torture chamber. It also started to get really hot now which made things even tougher.

We stopped at yellow creek to fill up our water and it was like an oasis. I was nearly out of water and I knew I was getting dehydrated. I was carrying 70 ounces of water and this would be the fourth time I was filling up. I couldn't get enough water and that was a problem on this trail. I filled up every place that I could and I was drinking it all. It was now really hot and the sun was just beating me up. I didn't know that this would be my last fill up until Bryce Point or I would have had more to drink. I was drinking twice as much now as I had been earlier because of the heat.

I hit my marathon distance a little less than a mile after Yellow Creek and that was the last I would see of Jun until Bryce Point. The next five miles were tough. It was really hot and there wasn't a lot of shade. It seemed like it was all uphill and my knee was really hurting now. I was now hiking everything. I did run a few flat places, but they were not long because it was mostly not flat. I was worried I was going to run out of water because I was drinking so much. I was already dehydrated and hadn't gone pee in about 4 hours. I was sweating a lot and it was incredibly hot. I was looking for a place to take a break and I found a rock to sit on in the shade. After about a minute I realized I was covered in ants that were now biting me and the flies were also swarming and biting too. I ended up just standing up and taking a gel. Another low moment.
With about a mile to go until Bryce Point I was down to the last of my water. I sat down on a rock in the shade and took another gel and swallowed it down with the last drop of warm water in my bottle. I wasn't sure how much further it was to the top. I knew we had at least 5 miles to go, but I wasn't expecting to come up to the top of the rim with 5 miles remaining. I saw an older guy hiking up and from the looks of him I knew that 'civilization' was close. When I saw the cars up there I was confused. I thought we had 5+ miles to go. Jun saw me coming up and met me and then informed me that we did indeed have at least 5 miles to go (I was at mile30.5). I was ok with that though because now I could get some water and the trail actually would be mostly flat from here. Jun had bummed some water off of one of the tourists, and he shared it with me, and I felt much better.

After about a 20 minute break with Jun, he took off running for the car, and I still wasn't sure what I was going to do yet. I was tempted to catch a ride back to the car and rationalized it by telling myself I had completed an ultra distance, but I soon put those thoughts out of my head. I came here to finish the whole thing, so I started hiking fast. Occasionally I was running, but it was painful and all of the tourists were looking at me like what in the world is this guy doing?
At Sunset Point (mile 33) I stopped to use the bathroom. It was the first facility with running water that we had seen all day, and I couldn't pass up filling my water up and taking a dirtbag shower in the sink. It felt so good to wash all of the salt off of my face. I took a long break in the shade and heard a few people comment about my appearance. I ate a Powerbar and my last gel and drank a lot of water. It felt so good and I was completely refreshed.

The next mile I actually ran a little more and I was feeling good. It was so nice to finally be on a flat trail again. At mile 34 I came to a fork in the trail. There was a sign on the trail going right that said: Fairyland Point 5 miles. My heart sank because I thought I only had about two miles to go. The trail on the left said to Fairyland Lookout, so I was confused, but two girls that were hiking up the trail (on the right) told me to take that trail because it went to Fairyland Point and that the left trail ended, so started down the trail. After about a half a mile I realized that I was just dropping too much and that I was on the wrong trail. Jun had mentioned to me that if I started descending back into the canyon I needed to get back to the rim, and I remembered looking at the map at Sunset Point and I knew I needed to go back. Thank goodness it only cost me a mile total because if I had kept going it would have taken me 4 hilly miles to get back instead of two on the flat rim trail.

The final two miles were hard, but I was feeling better than I had been coming out of the canyon, so I was actually in a good mood. I wasn't hot, I was feeling hydrated and my spirits were high. the only bad thing was I had developed a blister on one of my toes that was now nagging me. Normally I would have stopped to take care of it, but I just wanted to get done, so I didn't stop. I ran about 1/4 of the time, but I was mostly hiking because it hurt less.

When I finally saw my car parked I had an incredible feeling. I had done it. Jun came over to congratulate me and after a few high fives and pictures it was time to sit down. What an experience. It was definitely the most difficult thing I have ever done, a total grind. The only real easy part of the whole day was the first 4 miles running downhill. After that it was brutal. I am sure I would have enjoyed it a lot more without the 27 miles of ITB pain though.

I am disappointed that I didn't get to enjoy this trail more. The views really aren't even explainable. They don't look real, they are that good. It is certainly a good challenge for anyone, and I will never forget this day. There was exhilaration, pain, disappointment, laughs, fresh air, views, blood, a lot of sweat (probably gallons) and almost some tears. When we finished yesterday I told Jun there wasn't even a chance I would ever to that again, but today there is some sick part of me that wants to go back and do it again when my knee is right.

To see a video of our run go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG-oqbnvYVc&feature=player_embedded

Also look for part 2.

2010-08-18T10:39:00.000-07:00

Half way there! On On June 19th I finally reached the half way point with my goal to climb 52 peaks this year. I climbed/ran Lake Mountain with fellow FRB bloggers Craig and Lily. It was a fun day with a lot of laughs and some fantastic views. It was the perfect way to reach # 26. Here are some pictures-

2010-08-18T10:13:00.000-07:00

So far I am up to 33 peaks for the year. I set a goal to climb 52 peaks in 2010 and I know I will reach it. This is the most important fitness goal I have this year because it is hard and will require sacrificing a lot of my time to get it done, plus I know it will help keep me in really good shape and keep my legs strong for any races or adventures that I want to participate in.

Because I have a full time job and family responsibilities, finding time to climb a peak every week usually requires me to get up early, like 4:00-4:30 AM. I have never once felt bad about sacrificing my sleep to get into the mountains. Ever! It makes my day every time.

I also have a goal to do at least 52 trail runs this year as well. I can usually do the trail runs at the same time I am climbing a peak, but some peaks are just too steep to run.

Probably the most exciting climb I have done this year was climbing North Timpanogos via the Grunge Couloir. The Grunge is a steep chute that goes right up the back side between the two north summits of Timp. If you ever drive the Alpine Loop check it out. It doesn't really look climbable, and just looking at it makes my heart start to beat. What makes the Grunge really sketchy though is the rotten rock and constant rock fall that bombards the route. Rocks shoot down the slope like missiles and taking on one of these pieces of mountain shrapnel would certainly make for a bad day, if not your last.

I did the climb with Matt Van Horn and Dustin Erickson. We had an incredible climb and almost perfect conditions in the couloir. I wrote up a trip report and it made the cover of summitpost for over a week. You can read that here:
http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/628827/Gettin-dirty-in-The-Grunge-Couloir.html

Also, to see a video of our climb check out this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82ZI-oyo6y8

2010-08-18T09:56:00.001-07:00

3 months without a post? Are you kidding me? It has been a really busy summer so far with a lot of adventure and good times with the fam. I have run in a few trail races and also climbed quite a few peaks. I need to do a better job of keeping up with this blog (not that anyone is reading it).

Let's start where I left off in mid May. On the 15th I ran in the Grandeur Peak fun run and had an excellent time. The race starts at the grandeur West Ridge trail, climbs up to the summit, then back down to Church Fork, onto the Pipeline Trail, through Rattle Snake Gulch and then back to the trailhead. It is a total of 10 miles and is a TOUGH course, but a lot of fun. Craig told me about the race and I thought it would be a really good prep for Sapper Joe on the 29th.

There were about 75 people in the race and when I arrived at the start they all looked really hardcore and I was nervous. I chatted with my friend Matt for a while and then the race started. I really pushed hard climbing to the peak and all of my hill training over the last few months seemed to pay off, as I was really making good time and passing a lot of people in the way up. Only a few people passed me and I made it to the summit in 1:06 (shattering my previous best time). I was the 26th person to reach the peak, so I was doing really well.

The rest of the run was a bit of a struggle for me and a lot of the faster trail runners passed me. I also stopped a few times to mess with my gear and to take gels, and I just need to learn to get faster at doing these sorts of things on a race. I got passed a lot and ended up coming in 50th place. Not great, but I learned a lot and this little experience would help me a lot at Sapper Joe.

Sapper Joe 30K May 29th, 2010- This would be my first official trail race and I had been looking forward to it for several months. The race is on the Camp Williams base and goes over some very rugged and steep terrain. I knew it was going to be tough, but it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I ended up taking 26th place and I felt very good about my race. The way that the course is set up I think about 3/4 of it is up hill and it really is a hard slog, but it was FUN. You can read my race report here:

http://scottw.fastrunningblog.com/blog-Sapper-Joe-30K/05-29-2010.html

2010-05-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a while since my last post. Life has been really busy, and it has been difficult finding time, but I wanted to post a quick update on the last month.

I am now up to 18 peaks for the year and 14 trail runs. I have been experiencing some minor pain in my right ITB (knee) and I notice it on longer runs or hikes. I have been rolling it every night and it seems to be getting a little better, and I am really trying not to push it because I will be running in the Sapper Joe trail race on May 29th (30K 19.9 miles).

Here are the highlights from the last month:

4/15/10- Craig and I ran the Mt. Wire/Red Butte loop while the rest of the world slept. The views of the valley were impressive the whole way and it didn't start getting light until we were on our way down from Red Butte. It was a great day and my 4th time on top of Wire this year.

4/18/10- Kristina was working on a huge school project, so I took the kids and the dog on a hike to the summit of View Benchmark. We had a great day, and the kids had a lot of fun. Alec hiked the whole way on his own and didn't even complain, although he did ask me at least 100 times how much longer to the top. I will add a summit video later.

4/24/10- Matt Ricks and I set out on the Centerville Peak trailhead with the goal of climbing Centerville Peak. Neither of us had been there before, so we were a little surprised that the peak was just a little bump and that the real mountains were a few miles further east, so we decided to go for the ridge. We climbed an unnamed peak about 2 miles south of Bountiful Peak and it was a 9K ft peak, so it is kind of surprising that it doesn't have a name. Maybe it does, but it just isn't on the map I was looking at. It was 10 miles round trip with over 4K elevation gain and I ran 3/4 of the trail. I finished in 3:00. It was a lot of fun.

4/29/10- Craig and I ran the Pipeline trail after a huge storm had blown down several trees and limbs in Millcreek Canyon. We ran to Lookout Point and back (9+ miles). It did snow on us the last mile and I was soaked when I finished, but had a great day.

5/8/2010- I finally got my revenge on Lake Mountain. I took my dog Shyla with me and we ran as much of the trail as we could. It is rather steep in sections, so I couldn't run all the way up, but I did manage to run the entire way down. It was a fun morning with over 3K elevation gain and 8.48 miles in 2:05. My knee did get a little sore though.

2010-04-14T09:53:00.000-07:00

We have had 14 weeks so far in 2010 and so far I have climbed 13 peaks, so I am really happy about that. I am on pace to reach my goal of climbing 52 (one for each week of the year) peaks in 2010. I am tentatively planning on climbing Wire/Red Butte/Van Cott tomorrow morning before work with craig, so that will put me well over where I need to be.

April has been a really good month for me so far. I have done some really fun runs and hikes and my body feels really good.

On 3/28 I took Shyla (my dog) on her first summit climb while the rest of the family slept in. We climbed West Mountain, which is the peak south of Utah Lake, and it is west of Payson. It was a really steep hike with only a few switchbacks the whole way. Shyla did great, and when we ran into a herd of sheep on the saddle I was able to keep her under control.

On 4/2 I hiked to the summit of View Benchmark above Draper after work, and then the next day I climbed Mt. Wire (Big Beacon) with Matt Ricks and Matt Van Horn. This has become my standard training hike for 2010. It is a great peak to climb if you only have a few hours. It is steep and has a great view. It was my 4th time on top and my third time this year. It was very cold and windy that day, and we all got blasted by the wind. I beat Matt V. to the top by about 15 minutes and I went numb waiting for him. I hid behind an electrical box on the summit tower and it was the only thing that kept the wind at bay and made it possible for me to wait.

4/9- Craig and I went on the best hike/run of the year so far on the Bonneville Shoreline trail from 11700 S. off of Wasatch Blvd, all the way to corner canyon, then up and over View Benchmark and South Mountain. It was a half marathon distance for me and a full for Craig with 4500 feet of elevation gain and about 3000 feet of loss, and I still managed to get into work on time. You can read the trip report here:
http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/611869/The-long-road-to-View-Benchmark.html

3/24/2010

2010-03-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

Craig and I met at 5:45 this morning to climb South Peak (above Herriman). There is no trail, and we had to just go straight up bushwhacking our way over boulders, brush and snow. We were hiking really fast and made it to the summit in 46:00.

It was really cold on top and we had an amazing view of the sunrise and the Salt Lake Valley below. We took our obligatory peak jumping photos and then had some fun messing around on a radio tower that had blown over just below the summit. I added some pictures that you can see in the post below.

The hike down was much easier. We went down on a game trail that we found and it ended up being less of a bushwhack, but I did get tagged on the foot by a cactus... ouch!

We made it into work just after 8:00 and it was the perfect way to start the day. So far in 2010 I have climbed 8 peaks, so I need to get my butt in gear if I want to finish with 52 for the year.

2010-03-25T09:45:00.000-07:00

3/18/2010

2010-03-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

I attempted to run my first ultra-marathon on 3/18/2010 with ultra runner Davy Crockett and Craig Lloyd. Davy is very well known in the ultra world and does several 100 mile races every year. Here is the trip report I posted on my exercise blog:

What a day! I went for a long run with Crockett and Jun out in the Cedar Valley this morning. I didn't sleep well at all last night, but when I woke up I was excited about the run and I was wide awake even though it was 2:15 AM.

I met Crockett and Jun at 3:00 and we headed out to the Cedar Valley west of Eagle Mountain. We planned on doing 4 loops with a total of 40 miles. My goal was to at least get a marathon, but I really wanted to get an ultra distance if my legs would allow it.

It was pretty cold out and I bundled up, and we were quickly off and running on the first loop. The time seemed to fly by and before I knew it we were in Eagle Mountain. I was only slightly paying attention to our exact route because I was enjoying the good conversation, and that would come back to haunt me later in the morning. Eventually, we ended up back on the dirt road where the cars were and a few minutes later we were there and Jun and I took a two minute break, while Crockett went ahead.

The next loop was pretty long, almost 10 miles. We ran out to Camp Floyd south of Cedar Fort. It was a lot of fun talking and the time really seemed to go quickly. I was feeling really good the whole way, but I did notice that my legs were getting a little tired. Cardio wise I felt really strong.

When we reached camp Floyd we took a quick break and used the bathroom that had to be the warmest public bathroom I have ever been in. It felt good to warm up for a minute.
On the way back to the cars my legs got progressively more tired and I slowly dropped behind Crockett, although I could see his light almost all the way back. Eventually, I came to where the road forks and I turned left and I could no longer see Crockett's light. After I passed the road that we took on the first loop I started to second guess myself because I couldn't see any headlamps. I traveled the right way for a few minutes, but still couldn't see the other guys lights, and then I started to wonder if I really was close to the cars or if I still had a mile or more to go. I went back and forth on whether I should stay on the road (going the right way) or go back to the road. I realized that I wasn't sure and now I was wishing that I had the map Jun had made for me, but I had neglected to get from him. I was confused and it was dark, and I couldn't see anything except for the lights of Eagle Mountain, and Cedar Fort. I just didn't know which way was right and I was confused, so I second guessed myself and went back to the road I had passed. I started to go down that road for a while and then I thought maybe I just wasn't as close to the cars as I had thought.

When the road started heading south again I knew exactly where I was, but this is where I made the worst decision of the day. I decided to just do the first loop over again instead of going back. I thought to myself that I could remember where we had gone, but when I made it into Eagle mountain I just couldn't remember exactly which road we had taken. I second guessed myself several times, and spent the next hour going up and down multiple roads searching in vain for anything that looked familiar.

This was the worst part of the day for me. It was VERY cold and my water hose was completely frozen. I was really needing some energy and the cold just sapped any reserves that I had. It got light and after searching and moving where I thought the road was, I finally ran into a guy that was outside and asked if he knew where the Pony Express road was. I explained where we had come in, and he knew exactly where I needed to go. I was less than a quarter of a mile from the road, and I was heading in the right direction. It was a great feeling and really lifted my spirits.

When I got back to the car I was sooooo COLD and shivering. I got in my car and turned the heater on high. After a few minutes Crockett showed up and said he had been looking all over for me for the last 40 minutes and I felt really bad that I had caused him to take more time out of his day. Thanks Crockett! It took me at least 30 minutes to warm up and that is when Jun showed up. We ate some snacks and laughed about me getting lost. I can't believe I did that.
I told Jun that my right ITB was a little sore and sitting there in the car for 50 minutes really made my joints and knees stiff. We decided to do the long loop out to Cedar Fort, and the first half mile was very painful for me because I was so stiff. Once I warmed up I got into a little groove, although it was slow and I tried my best to stay with Jun who was about a quarter of a mile ahead.

After about 2.5 miles I could see Jun stop to stretch his ITB and after a few minutes he started coming back to me, so I thought maybe it was really bothering him. I was right. We both decided that it would be best to turn around and not make things worse. Both of us were experiencing some pretty good ITB pain. We ran for a while, but eventually walked a good portion of the way back to the car. It was fun even though we were both sore. We decided that the Redneck beer of choice is Bud Light, with Natural light a close second followed by Busch. There were so many cans out there. What kind of slob just throws their trash on the ground? I don't understand.
We figured that I was at 24 miles and Jun was at 31, I really wanted to get a marathon distance in, so I told Jun I was heading straight for the treadmill, and I did. I did 3 of the most painful treadmill miles of my life. I went slow, but I felt good afterward for at least reaching that goal. I think I probably went at least another mile roaming around Eagle Mountain, but I am not sure exactly how far I went.

It was a really fun day, and I learned some good lessons and actually had a great time despite getting lost. Thanks again Jun and Crockett. Total miles for the day- 27

2010-03-25T09:34:00.000-07:00

Pictures from Mt. Wire/Red Butte on 3/13

3/13/2010

2010-03-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

What a fantastic day! I met Craig and Matt Ricks at the trailhead for Mt. Wire (Big Beacon) at 6:00 am this morning. It wasn't very cold, but we did have to deal with some wind for the first hour. Twinkies and Jun were total mountain goats today, and I spent the whole time trying to catch them.

Mt. Wire is pretty steep, so we ran/hiked our way up, and enjoyed the best sunrise of the year so far about 3/4 of the way up. The sun was coming up over the Wasatch Mountains, and it was very impressive. I stopped for a minute to check out the sun, look at the SL Valley and once again I was reminded why I do this. You just can't beat those views.

We were all talking about cougars, and Jun kept calling "Here kitty kitty". On one of the saddles I noticed a few cougar tracks in the snow, and it kind of made me think for a few minutes about my situation. I was in last place and I seem to recall that cougars will usually go after the lame or slower animals, and since it was breakfast time, I had to keep looking back to make sure I wasn't being followed. I made it to the summit of Wire in about 53 minutes, give or take a minute. We were going pretty fast, especially Jun and Twinkies. After our obligatory summit jumps we headed over to the summit of Red Butte. I was trying to find a good song on the ipod, and I stopped for only a minute and I was waaaay behind.

I had a minor wardrobe malfunction coming down from Red Butte, and the boys were kind enough to wait for me. Once we got down to a saddle, Twinkies lead us down a pretty technical trail and I could not keep up with them. Wow, they were flying.

We headed over to do the Red Butte loop and there were more hills to climb. I was pretty tired by now, and I wasn't enjoying the hills at all. I mean I usually like hills, but these guys like to run fast up them. Feel the BURN! I finally stopped trying to keep up with Jun and Twinkies the last 1.5 miles. My legs were tired and they were still bounding along like they just started.
Finished in about 2:35 (Estimate) and just under 10 miles with about 1500 ft. of elevation gain. It was an amazing morning, and I can't wait to do it again. Thanks for pushing me this morning guys. I loved every minute of it.

Spring is here

2010-03-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

3/12/2010- Took a lunch break and met Craig at the LCC park-n-ride to do a run. We ran to Bell Canyon trailhead, up to the reservoir, around the lake, and then back to LCC. It was fun, the sun was out and we both had our shirts off coming down the trail. It feels so good to have the sun on your skin after the long winter. Back at the PNR and Craig talked me into staying for some climbing. We hit the boulders and I did 3 easy problems, although I didn't finish the last one, a long traverse that required a lot of upper body strength. I got tired at the end because I had a big lifting session the night before, and my triceps were screaming, so I didn't make it over the final lip. I'll definitely go back and get that one when I am fresh. What a fun day!

2010 update

2010-03-12T09:52:00.000-08:00

3/4/2010- I climbed Mt. Olympus before work this morning. The weather was perfect when we started and I didn’t put my jacket on at all until I reached the summit. The trail had quite a lot of snow/ice on it after the first stream crossing, and it really slowed me down. The last ¼ of a mile was a little sketchy because of the icy boulders, but nothing too serious. We just had to take care and take a few places kind of slow. Once on top it started to snow, so I put on my fleece jacket.

When we got back down to the saddle it cleared up, and it was warm the rest of the way down. I did slip and fall twice on the way down, and the last one was pretty bad. I had just taken off my gloves and pulled up my sleeves and I got some serious road rash on my arm, bruised my shoulder and took off all of the skin on my pinky knuckle. It was the only negative of the day though. I think that was my 6th time on top in the winter, and my 6th mountain in 2010.

3/6/2010- Had a really fun run this morning with Craig Lloyd and Matt Ricks. We started in City Creek canyon. Matt was running 33 miles and came from his home in Bountiful, so he had already done 8 when he met us at the Capitol building. The wind was really strong and it was cold when we started at 6:00 am, but after about 15 minutes I warmed up. Once we were on the BST trail it got steep really quick. The trail conditions were horrible with snow, ice and frozen slush. It was really tough on the legs.

Matt and Craig were faster than I was, and I spent the first hour and a half trying to catch them. We went up and over several small hills, and the trail was really steep at times, but it finally mellowed out about when we got to the Avenues Twin peaks. I was so tempted to bail on the run and climb up to the top because we were so close, but I kept going. At 8:00 I knew I had to turn around because of the time. I was almost to the base of Mount Van Cott above the U. I couldn’t see Matt or Craig, and I was hoping they weren’t waiting for me somewhere.

After about 20 minutes of running back Craig caught up to me and we ran together for a while before he took off ahead. I stopped with a few miles to go to take a few gels, and Matt caught up to me. We ran the rest of the way together, and he was really fast on the downhills, and it was tough keeping up with him, but I did. We finally got back to the car about 9:15. I had brought some food and Gatorade for Matt, so he took a nice break and refueled before doing the final 8 miles back home. I finished with 13 miles for the day. That was a tough 13, but a lot of fun, and it gave me 30 miles for the week.

Highpoints

2010-03-08T09:50:00.000-08:00

I have always loved reading maps, and when I began to really have passion for climbing peaks I would always look for the marked mountains on any map that I looked at. Sometime in the mid-nineties I became interested in highpointing (climbing the highest peak in a state) and also climbing the Colorado 14ers (peaks in Colorado over 14,000 ft). Most of this interest started from seeing the peaks marked on maps, and then trying to find out as much information as I could about them. After setting some goals to climb these peaks, I discovered that there was an actual club dedicated to Highpointing, so I joined, and soon I started receiving their monthly newsletters, which really got me excited about the peaks. I have to say that I am not extremely interested in the highpoints outside of the Western U.S., although I can see myself climbing them one day when I am too old to get on the big stuff.
Kings Peak- I climbed my first Highpoint in the summer of 1997 with my friends Scott Thorstensen and Brad Rosenhan. I had wanted to climb Kings Peak for a long time because it was the highest point in Utah, and had my attention very early on after I started climbing mountains. I had a guide book “Hiking Utah” that had a description of the hike and had some drawn maps, and after reading this over and over for a few years I decided that I could definitely climb the peak. Early on I had heard some horror stories about how difficult it was, and that only experienced mountaineers should ever attempt it, so it did take some time to change my thinking and realize that I could do it.
My first attempt on Kings didn’t turn out so well. I was with my friends Scott Thostensen, Jackson Ferguson and Brett Weaver. We decided to do this as a three day/two night backpacking trip, and for the most part we had a great time. We spent the first night camping at Dollar Lake, and that is where everything took a turn for the worse. I had a restless night sleep, and woke up early in the morning with some of the worst stomach issues I have ever experienced. I was extremely sick, throwing up multiple times and there was no way I could make the summit climb. I told them to go on without me, and I spent the day in the fetal position in my tent. It was a terrible experience, and I thought that I had food poisoning, but I later discovered that I have a tendency to get altitude sickness when I camp at high elevations (above 10,000 feet) or climb too high without being properly acclimatized. The other three made the summit after waiting out a storm high on the mountain. I was upset, but motivated, so I returned with Scott and Brad, and this time I did make it to the top, even though I again suffered with some altitude issues. It was an amazing experience and I have been back to the summit 5 more times, and plan on doing it every year as long as I am physically able to do so.
Boundary Peak Nevada/ Mount Whitney California- In 1999 I took a trip with my good friends Brandon Nielsen, Curt Schoenfeld and his brother Greg to the summits of these two highpoints. You can read the trip report here: http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/402524/Surmounting-the-weather-on-Whitney.html
Mt. Whitney is the highest point in the United States outside of Alaska, and it was a surreal experience to stand on the summit by myself in a snow storm in July, knowing that there was nobody in the lower 48 that was higher than I was.
In May 2001 I reached the summit of Humphreys Peak , the highest point in Arizona. It was a fun trip with Dustin Call and Adam Roddy, with a side trip to the Grand Canyon.
Gannett Peak, Wyoming- In July 2000 I made my first attempt to reach the summit of Gannett Peak. I fell in love with this peak a few years earlier after reading about it on the internet. No other peak has had a grip on my quite like this one. I love everything about it. My first attempt was filled with mishaps, mistakes, and my propensity for altitude issues ended up doing me in. After our hike to our first camp I became extremely sick, throwing up several times, and eventually throwing up blood, which scared everyone. We were in one of the most remote places in the country. We were 22 miles of rough hiking to the nearest trailhead without cell coverage, and I know my friends were very worried about me. On day two I felt somewhat better, but everyone decided I shouldn’t go up, so Jackson Ferguson gave up his summit attempt and hiked out with me. We ended up going almost 40 miles carrying 65 pound packs and saw some incredible scenery. The other three guys in our group Curt S., Greg S. and Adam R.) all made the summit on a bluebird day. My desire to summit Gannett only increased, and getting my first look at it from Scenic Pass was intimidating, awe inspiring and seared into my memory forever. What an incredible place.
I went back to Gannett in 2001 and finally reached the top. You can read a trip report here:
http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/365066/Wind-River-Bliss.html
I have to say that Gannett is still my favorite peak.
Mt. Elbert, Colorado- The second highest peak in the lower 48 states, but definitely not one of the best. I also reached the summit in 2001 and you can read my trip report here:
http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/403537/Getting-blown-away-on-Elbert.html
This was the coldest summit I have ever had the privilege to stand on.
Mount Hood, Oregon- I have made two attempts to climb Mount Hood. The first time we got stuck in a massive storm, and tried to wait it out in one of the ski shacks high on the mountain, but the weather never let up. The wind and snow were blowing hard, and it looked like a movie from Everest. It was surreal for sure. The second attempt was also an incredible experience. There was a raging storm up until 8500 ft, where the cloud cap was. Everything below was atrocious, but above 8500 it was sunny with blue skies. It was one of the most impressive things I have ever seen. I stopped just before the final steep slope because I wasn’t comfortable with the avalanche conditions after talking to one of the climbing rangers. I still think about that decision all the time. My partners all made the summit while I was warming my feet back in the Timberline Lodge.
Mt. Rainier, Washington- I have wanted to climb Rainier for several years now, and in 2007 I was part of an 11 person expedition. The main issues we had (besides the weather) were trying to mesh all of the personalities of the group. It was not good. The hike up to Camp Muir was probably the most difficult day I have ever experienced in the mountains. We had to climb over 6,000 feet with 65 pound packs on the Muir snowfield. It was an exhausting experience. At one point I stopped to take a break on a steep slope and fell asleep within seconds. I woke up very chilled, and the only thing that kept me going was not wanting to spend the night there. One of our group members turned back because he was too tired and another barely made it before nightfall. Setting up our tent on the solid ice was a difficult proposition because of the wind and our exhaustion, so we ended up sleeping in the public climbers hut, where we witnessed a guy that was unconscious and looked like death after his summit push. His friends were very worried about him. A major storm moved in a few hours after we arrived and with high winds and snow I wasn’t going to risk going up on a few hours of sleep, especially because I was dehydrated and cramping. Some of our group tried to go for the summit, but came back within an hour because of the conditions. The storm raged and in the morning the climbing rangers offered to escort us back down and that is when I knew it was a bad storm. Most of our group panicked, and a few of the more vocal guys persuaded almost everyone else to go down. I wanted to wait out the storm because I had 3 days until my flight back to Utah, but only my brother-in-law would stay with me, and we needed one more for the rope team. The next morning I caught an early flight, and was absolutely sick when I saw Rainier completely clear of clouds above 8,000 feet. I’ll be back when I get the right group together. I definitely learned a lot on that trip.
Borah Peak, Idaho- In October 2001 I had major surgery to remove a tumor from my spinal cord. I didn’t do much physical activity for 6-8 months afterward, and I had a lot of physical therapy and pain to get over before I could get out into the mountains again. I wanted Borah to be the first major peak that I climbed because I knew it would be a challenge, and I had been eying it for a few years. You can read the trip report here:
http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/383662/A-cliffhanger-on-Borah.html

Highpoints still on my list to climb:
Granite Peak, Montana
Wheeler Peak, New Mexico
Mt. Hood, Oregon
Mt. Rainier, Washington
I expect to climb these four peaks in the next 5 years at some point. I am also working on climbing all 54 Colorado 14ers. I have 8 so far, and hopefully I can get out to Colorado this year to add a few more.

2010-02-22T14:28:00.000-08:00

I have had the opportunity to get out into the mountains the last two weekends, so I wanted to post an update. On 2/13/10 Craig and I attempted to climb Lake Mountain, which is just west of Utah Lake. The weather was a little unsettled, and we couldn't actually see the summit because of the clouds. Neither of us had ever been there before, and we went up the wrong canyon. We ended up getting into a lot of snow, mud, and eventually we came to a gully that would have required a nasty bushwhack to keep going, so we decided not to push for the summit. We did get in 8 miles and had a fantastic day.

2/20/10 I Had the best run/hike of the year so far this morning with Craig. My son came into my room last night at 1:30 am barfing all over the carpet, my bed and himself. I had only been asleep for about 30 minutes and with the alarm set for 6:00 I was worried I wouldn't be feeling it today, but I felt great the whole time. We met my friend Matt at the trailhead to Big Beacon (Mt. Wire) at 7:00 this morning and it was COLD. Matt was taking a break from work, and wasn't dressed for hiking, but he is pretty hardcore, so he just came up in his jeans and leather shoes.

The first mile was really cold and the hose on my Camelbak froze and I couldn't get any water. We made good time to the summit hiking fast. We could have run, but we didn't want to leave Matt. We made it to the top in about an hour, and Matt bailed to get back to work. We took a few summit shots, and then decided to go down a different way that would take us over a minor summit and then take us over to the Red Butte summit ridge. The run over to Red Butte was so fun in the well packed snow.

The Red Butte ridge is a little scrambly (not bad) so it slowed us down some and we were soon on the summit while spying several deer (I think we saw at least 50 today). The run down from Red Butte is pretty steep and technical, but a lot of fun. We had a great time and moved really fast down to the saddle, where we decided to take the switchbacks down to the BST. Once we got back down to the BST it was another couple of miles to the car and by this time it was really hot. My Camelbak finally started working again, and I sucked down some water. This was an amazing day and I would go back and do that again anytime. The only bad part of the whole hike/run was my nose ran constantly, and I had to keep farmer blowing. Craig was incredibly strong, and considering he ran a marathon+ two days ago it was pretty amazing that he did so well.

So far for the year I have done 4 trail runs and climbed 5 mountains. I am doing well with that aspect of my 2010 goals. I'm hoping I can attempt/summit at least 52 peaks this year, but if I get a combined 52 mountains/trail runs I'll be happy.

I have added some pictures below.

2010-02-22T14:01:00.000-08:00

2010 goals.

2010-02-04T14:14:00.000-08:00

I needed to get back into the mountains, so I climbed Mount Van Cott above the U this morning before work. It was a perfect short hike and had about 1200 feet of elevation gain in about a mile and a half. This is a perfect training hike, especially if there is high avalanche danger on the higher peaks. I didn’t know where the trail was, so I went up a gulch that had a faint trail, and ended up busting my hump up to the ridge through some sugary snow. Once I was on the ridge it was quick and easy, although it was a little steep.

I got to enjoy the sunrise from the top over the Wasatch and the entire Salt Lake Valley. I can’t think of a better way to start a day.

It took me a lot of work to finally bag such a little mountain. I took my dog and kids up there on one of the hottest days in the summer of 2009. We had some bad directions, and it took us about an hour of hiking before we ended up in Cepnalopod Gulch. After about 15 minutes heading up the dog wouldn't walk anymore and the kids were crying, so we had to turn back. My kids still call this mountain Mt. Van Hot.

Now for my goals. I have been thinking about the fitness goals that I want to accomplish this year, so I wrote them down, and I plan on looking at these weekly to make sure I am trying my best to reach them. If I can accomplish these I will be right where I want to be for all of the hikes and races that I have planned for this year.

2010 fitness goals:

My fitness goals for 2010:
-Do a trail run or climb a peak at least once per week
- Hike or run at least 30 miles every week
- Lift weights (upper body) twice per week
- work core/abs twice per week
- Workout every day
- Run 2 marathons
- Run 1 ultra

2009

2010-01-25T08:28:00.000-08:00

2009 was probably the best year I have ever had in terms of staying fit, working out, and climbing peaks. I set some lofty goals for myself and I think I had a successful year. I wanted to just post some of the highlights. You can find reports for most of these adventures on my exercise blog. I only typed up a few trip reports last year that I posted on summitpost, and this year I need to take some time to write a few more than I did last year.

Mountain stuff- I set a goal early last year to try and climb a peak every week in 2009. I knew that I would probably miss a few weeks because of work and family commitments, but I just wanted to try and do whatever I could to get on top of a peak every week. I reached the summit of 31 peaks in 2009, which is probably the most that I have ever done in one year, so even though I didn't get out every week, I had some really great experiences and saw some incredible places in 2009. I did have some major knee issues after my marathon, so I wasn't even able to hike anything in September and October, so if you throw those months out, I made 31 summits out of a possible 43 weeks.

I started off the year on New Years Day hiking to the top of Grandeur peak via the West Ridge with Jackson and Matt Van Horn. We got to the top just as the sun was setting, and it was a great way to start 2009.

I got caught in a full white out on Little Black Mountain with Matthew Van Horn. It had to be one of the most memorable trips of the year on Valentines Day. You can see a trip report here:
http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/514408/A-lot-of-white-on-Little-Black.html

The most difficult climb of the year was definitely a winter climb of Lone Peak with Matt Van Horn. The final push to the summit was a dodgy proposition, and it definitely got the adrenaline flowing. You can see a photo album from the climb here:
http://www.summitpost.org/album/498007/Lone-Peak-winter-2009.html

I had some fantastic spring mountaineering adventures. The most memorable were doing the Beatout hike with the Wasatch Mountain club, and climbing North Timpanogos via the cold Fusion Couloir. The Beatout was a fun day, and we went really fast because of the threat of inclement weather. We didn't even stop for a breather until the summit of Pfeifferhorn, and I was a little behind because of a wardrobe malfunction, so when I got to the top I barely had a chance to get a drink, take a picture and slam down a packet of gu. We hit 4 summits that day, and had an amazing experience traveling from the White Pine trailhead in Little Cottonwood all the way on top of the ridge and out Bells Canyon. Cold Fusion was also a memorable climb with some of the best views I have ever seen. It wasn't extremely technical, but there were a few places where you had to take care because I fall could be serious. I did have a scary glissade on the way down, and had to self arrest because I was going so fast down the hard snow slope. I'll add some pictures later

Some of the best memories I have from 2009 are from early morning pre-work outings with Matt. We tried to get out every week, although it wasn't always possible. We would meet at the various canyon park-n-rides or trail heads usually at 4:30 - 5:00 and would try and be down by 7:30 so that we could make it to work on time. We climbed several summits, and had many memorable experiences. I also learned how to shower using my Nalgene bottle or by using the sink in the bathroom of the Park-n-rides. Not ideal I know, but you have to do what you can to get some adventure. I hope we can continue these outings in 2010.

I set a goal in 2009 to workout every day that I possibly could. I know from experience that there will be days that it just won't happen for you because of work and family, so most of the time I would usually get in 6 days per week, and I am ok with that. This was my 'typical' routine from 2009:

Monday- Weights at the gym
Tuesday- Soccer
Wednesday- Peak in the morning or treadmill/elliptical
Thursday- Peak in the morning or treadmill/elliptical
Friday- Weights in the AM before work
Saturday- Hike or run in the AM or treadmill/elliptical at night
Sunday- Treadmill/elliptical

Running- I started running in 2009 to get in shape for the Spring mountaineering season, and I discovered that I actually enjoyed it. I set a goal to run a marathon, but I knew that I probably should run a half marathon first, so I decided that I would do my first half in the summer, and then I would probably do a full in 2010. I joined a running blog for motivation, you can see it here: http://scottw.fastrunningblog.com/

I signed up for the Provo River Half marathon on August 8th, and I was running 2-3 times per week t get ready for the race. There had to be at least 3,000 people running, and I was excited for the challenge. The course started up Provo Canyon, and then ended at the Riverwoods shopping center. The adrenaline was really pumping, and i think it carried me for the first 5 miles. I kept up a really fast pace until about mile 10, where I kind of ran into a wall. My legs were so tired, and every step hurt. The next two miles I slowed down a lot, and I tried to push it hard when someone would pass me, but my brain was stronger than my body. I just couldn't push it anymore. When I got out of the canyon and started to see the crowd of people I got another shot of adrenaline, and I really picked up my pace. I sprinted the last 1/4 mile to finish in 1:49. It felt great to finish, and I changed my mind and decided that I wanted to try a marathon in 2009, so a few weeks later I signed up for the Provo River Marathon, which follows the same course as the half but then continues on to Utah Lake State park.

The week before the marathon I climbed Kings Peak, the highest point in Utah in one day (26 miles and over 4K elevation gain). The weeks prior to this I had done something major every week including some peaks with a lot of elevation gain/loss. My knee (IT band) had been getting a little sore, and on the Kings Peak trip it really started to hurt me. I did a peak jump on the summit of Kings, and it hurt really bad the rest of the way down. I tired to stay off of it the next week leading up to the marathon, but it didn't help much. I also picked up a brace at Wasatch running that is supposed to help with IT band issues.

The marathon was September 12. I was running with my friend Amy and her nephew Michael. There was not as many people as the half the month before, and when we started there wasn't as much adrenaline, but I was excited to see if I could make it. After a few miles Amy's foot was starting to bother her, and I was having a little pain in my knee. Between mile 5-6 I tripped on a screw on a bridge and fell hard. I must have still had a lot of adrenaline because I didn't feel anything even though I could see a few cuts and scrapes. At mile 7 Amy had to stop because she had a stress fracture in her foot. I felt so bad for her because she had been training so hard. it was sad to see her drop out. Right after that my knee took a turn for the worse, and after mile 7 the course made an uphill detour for a few miles. The next 6 miles were as hard as anything I have ever done in my life. My knee was throbbing, and every step I had a shooting pain in my knee. I told myself that if I could keep running I wasn't going to stop. I had to stop to adjust my knee brace several times, but nothing seemed to help. I was getting very discouraged because I was being passed by everyone it seemed. It was a mental low point for me, and luckily I was able to push through it. Those 6 miles were so incredibly bad, that the rest of the race was actually easier. Once I made it out of the canyon (mile 13.1) I noticed that my knee felt much better because I wasn't on the downhill slope. It still hurt, but was nothing like the pain I had been feeling. I actually picked up my pace, and mentally felt great. My half time was about 30 minutes slower than it had been just a month before. Those 6 miles had just killed me. At this point I didn't care at all about my time, I just wanted to finish.

Miles 15-20 hurt pretty bad, but I was still feeling really good. My knee was still throbbing, but at least it was bearable, but now my legs and feet started to hurt as well. It seemed like there wasn't much on my body that wasn't hurting. I had some great tunes in my iPod, and I knew that if I could just get to mile 20 I would make it.

Miles 20-23 I just got into a groove. I think all of my years of mountaineering paid off here because I am already used to grinding physically all day. It was very similar to doing a long peak in the Uintas. My body was tired and hurt, but you just take yourself to a place that gets you into a rhythm, and you just push through. I thought about a lot of things, and I was mostly in a really good mood because I knew I was going to make it.

Miles 23-26.2- After I went through the last aid station I was running completely alone. I didn't see any other runners. The course follows a paved trail that goes through Utah Lake State park, and is right next to the Provo River. At this point the pain wasn't bothering me because I was used to it. I was just tired. My body wanted to quit, and it did take everything I had to keep pushing. When I finally reached the park I was so relieved. There was a few people there cheering me on, and I knew I had done it. My time wasn't great, but finishing this race was a big accomplishment for me. It took everything I had mentally and physically to fight through the knee pain, and I was elated to cross the finish line. As soon as I stopped my leg locked up, and it was hard to even walk to my car. I took an ice bath when I got home for 20 minutes, took ibuprofen and tired to rest. That night at 2:00 AM my knee woke me up with a shooting pain that felt like I was being burned with a branding iron. the pain was unbelievable, and as bad as anything I have ever felt. It took me two months to be able to run again. I am glad that I pushed through the pain, but I am not sure if I would do that again. I will definitely run more marathons, but not if my knee feels like it did. My body was trying to tell me to stop, and next time I will listen. Hopefully I will train smarter in the future and I won't have the same problems. I have learned that I need to taper my training before a big race.

I am really excited for 2010. I have several goals that I want to reach, and I am really looking forward to a fantastic year. Hopefully I will get to experience the great outdoors with my friends, and have some epic adventures that we will remember forever.

It's about time!

2010-01-21T14:09:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to start a blog for quite a long time now, but other things seem to always take up my time. The purpose of this blog will be to record all of my adventures, so that I can share them with friends and family. Growing up I used to keep a journal at times almost daily, and over the last 15 years or so I have really let that slide. Hopefully this will also be a place that I can record my thoughts, so that at a later date I can recall the way I felt and also remember the experiences that I had.

I have always been a very active person. I enjoy almost every sport that I play, and I have always stayed in decent shape, so that I could participate in sports and other active pursuits. In the summer of 1990 I went on my first 'real' hike with my friends, Scott Thorstensen, and Jackson Ferguson. I had been on several hikes while participating in scouts as a kid, but I had never tried to climb a summit like this before. It was our quest to climb Lone Peak, which is one of the more difficult mountains to climb in the Wasatch mountain range. You can read about our adventure here:
http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/264520/Lone-Peak-Where-it-all-started-.html

This hike to Lone Peak is what started my addiction to climbing mountains. From that date on I have had something in the back of my mind that I want to climb. It has been like an addiction. Luckily, I am married to a fantastic woman that allows me to do these crazy adventures, and is very supportive in all of my pursuits.

In May 2009 I started keeping an exercise blog. At first this was to keep track of my running miles, weight, and the days that I worked out, but I found that it became a big motivator for me. I enjoy the interaction with all of the other bloggers. It is a lot of fun, and it helps motivate me knowing that others will see what I did (or didn't) do. You can see my exercise blog here:
http://scottw.fastrunningblog.com/

I started running in 2009 to stay in shape for mountaineering trips, and I found that I really enjoyed it. I decided that I wanted to run a marathon at some point, so in 2009 I ran my first half (Provo River Half), and full (Provo Canyon) marathons. They were unbelievable experiences, and I would say I got the same rush that I get when I get to the summit of a peak. Hearing the starting gun go off and crossing the finish line gave me a HUGE adrenaline rush, and I am definitely hooked.

Running races and climbing peaks are very similar. You have a goal in mind that will take a lot of work to reach. You have to plan and then train for the unknown. You can read about the experiences of others, and that only makes the anticipation greater. You put in a lot of hard work, sweat, and training, and then you push your body, at times harder than you ever have before to complete or finish. They both also require you to be strong mentally. Hiking or running 20+ miles in a day is not easy, and at times it hurts a lot. Pushing through pain is something that I have come to really love, and I get to experience it in climbing peaks and running races.

I also have a profile at summitpost.org. This is where I have been posting trip reports from my hiking/climbing trips. You can also see a log of the summits that I have climbed. I have posted over 300 pictures from my mountain adventures there.
http://www.summitpost.org/user_page.php